Premier League | Manchester United have let the opportunity slip through their hands: Rio Ferdinand

Manchester United were enjoying the view from the top of the Premier League table a few weeks back but a run of two draws and a loss in their last four games sees them five points behind Manchester City, who are placed at the top of the table now.

Moreover, the Red Devils have played a game more than their City rivals as well and that’s why former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand believes that the club has lost the opportunity to win the Premier League title this season.

‘You can’t defend it,” the former Manchester United man said on Rio Ferdinand Presents FIVE.

“Man United were sitting pretty at the top of the league. You see the league table, you look at the results, you get excited. When you put yourself in that position, Man United have to strike.

“When there’s an opportunity you’ve got to go. The problem is we’ve let this opportunity slip through our hands.

“You can see Man City with their experience, they’ve smelt blood, they’ve put their heads down, they’ve gone.

“But Man United have stuttered, we’ve got the choke going in and out, haven’t got it quite working properly.

“We have choked, it’s simple as that.

“I’d put us out of the title challenge unless we go on a run and we change our habits and our lack of consistency.

“But I haven’t seen enough to suggest we can go on a ten, 15-game winning streak. We’re tripping ourselves up all the time.”

Five points isn’t that huge a difference with so many games still to go in the season. Moreover, this season has been very unpredictable as well. But Manchester City look like an invincible force right now as they have won all of their last 14 games across all competitions.

The kind of form they are right now, it would take a huge dip from them to lose their position in the Premier League table once again. They have not only looked solid in defence but they have found new scorers in youngsters like Phil Foden and Ferran Torres. Ilkay Gundogan’s scoring form has come as a boon for them in absence of their star midfielder Kevin de Bruyne as well.

United, on the other hand, have looked very inconsistent. They have been ruthless at times but have disappointed on a lot of occasions as well. They will need more consistency if they need to regain their position at the top once again.