Former Chelsea striker Chris Sutton has named the only three teams in the Premier League title race this season as he says he believes Manchester United are not in the running.
The pundit has made the rather bold suggestion that Cristiano Ronaldo may even be detrimental to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side, despite being an obvious source of goals for the club.
Ronaldo returned to Man Utd this summer in a keenly-anticipated deal, and there’s no doubt the Portugal international has shown what he’s all about with a superb start to his second spell at Old Trafford.
Still, Sutton says Ronaldo’s lack of pressing might be an issue, as it seemed to be in his final season with Juventus, whilst adding that it’s a concern for the Red Devils that Solskjaer’s tactics are still poor and they concede too many goals.
On the other teams in the race, Sutton is predicting that his old club Chelsea will run Man City closest, putting Liverpool in third just above United.
“It’s a three-horse race in my book, between Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool. Had City signed a striker in the summer, they’d probably have walked this Premier League,” Sutton wrote in the Daily Mail.
“Blindfolds and cigarettes may as well have been handed out to their rivals. But the fact that City did not get themselves a Lukaku is where it gets interesting.
“Chelsea did and they are completely in this race. As are Liverpool with Salah, Mane and Jota singing from the same hymn sheet. But I don’t consider United to be title contenders this season. They’re guaranteed goals from Ronaldo but concede too many and Solskjaer still hasn’t got his tactics right.”