Pep Guardiola has dismissed suggestions that the Premier League is a two-horse race between Manchester City and Manchester United.
The Citizens have made a strong start to the campaign with four wins and a draw, and they currently share the top spot with Jose Mourinho’s United on 13 points.
Both Manchester United have looked fairly dominant over the opposition since the start of the campaign, and this has led to suggestions that they could battle it out between themselves for the title this season. However, Guardiola does not believe this is the case, and believes as many as six teams are on the hunt for the Premier League title.
“There are six teams [that can win the league]. We are just two or three points in front of the other ones and it’s just five games.”Last season we started quite well, quite similar, similar goals but we have less points than last season. And I think it was a good season but not good enough to fight against the best teams like Chelsea and Tottenham. All the other teams — like Arsenal, Tottenham, Chelsea of course — they are contenders for the Premier League but the important thing is to be there,” he told a news conference prior to the Crystal Palace game.
The Citizens managed a hard-fought 2-1 win over West Bromwich Albion in the third round of the League Cup on Wednesday night, and Guardiola went with the opinion of Jose Mourinho that the competition should be scrapped in the future in order to benefit English clubs in Europe.
Manchester City entertain Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday and Guardiola will be expectant of a victory as the Eagles are pointless since the start of the season. Roy Hodgson’s side are currently rooted to the bottom of the table with no goals scored yet.