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Opinion Piece

Can United still claw back City’s lead to win the title?

We’re 11 games in to the 2017/18 Premier League campaign and already its looking like a one-horse race for the title with Manchester United battling to finish second.

Last Sunday proved to be pivotal at the top of the table and it could end up being the day City took a huge step towards reclaiming the title from Chelsea.

We went in to the weekend action sitting three points clear in second and five adrift of leaders City. A win for Arsenal at the Etihad in the early Sunday kick-off and Jose Mourinho knew we could cut the gap to just two points with victory at Stamford Bridge.

However, unfortunately some poor officiating led to a 3-1 victory for City over the Gunners and we slumped to a 1-0 loss at Chelsea a few hours later in West London.

United are now left level on points with Spurs after they beat Crystal Palace 1-0 at Wembley, but worryingly City have extended their lead at the top to a mammoth 8 points.

Having started the season as joint 2/1 favourites with City to win the title this season, we’ve now drifted to 14/1 at the bookmakers with our rivals 1/8 odds-on favourites to lift the title in May.

So the bookies think it’s basically over, but do United still have a realistic chance of winning the league?

Right now, you’d have to admit it’s going to be extremely difficult to claw back an 8-point gap, especially with the formidable form Pep Guariola’s side have been showing. They’ve only dropped two points so far this season!

However, things can change quickly in football and we’ve seen in the past that teams can lose form and a shock defeat can see their momentum come to an abrupt halt.

United fans will remember overturning Arsenal’s 8-point lead to win the title in 2002/03 while Newcastle blew a 12-point advantage to hand United the title back in 1995/96.

Therefore, City’s current lead is certainly not insurmountable and it’s worth remembering it’s still very early days as there are still 27 games left to play this season, so I’m not giving up hope just yet.

We’ve had to deal with a lengthy injury list but the likes of Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic are due to return from injury soon while City will no doubt have their fair share of injuries to deal with so I still think there is plenty left to play for.

Still fancy United? 

I think the bookmakers are offering very tempting odds on United to win the title. I’ve seen some offering 20/1 so I’m extremely tempted to take a punt at that kind of price.

These days, it couldn’t be easier to bet on football. Smartphones and tablets mean we can place our bets anytime, anywhere, and you can click here to bet on William Hill’s app and back United to win the league within minutes.

There is very little point backing City but at odds of 20/1 there is excellent value in United and we all know Mourinho has what it takes to build a title-winning run during the second half of the season.

So while most pundits and fans already have the winners medals around the necks of the City players, I still think there will be more twists and turns in the title race and feel United will be right in the mix come May.