Manchester United vs Manchester City: Who does Pep Guardiola think are title frontrunners in Premier League?

The match of the Premier League weekend will happen at Old Trafford on Sunday when Manchester United welcome their local city rivals Manchester City. This pulsating tie would have gotten both sets of fans massively excited and for understandable reasons too. The defending champions have yet again started the new campaign on the front foot and look like a genuine title contender. However, it has not been easy for the other half of Manchester.

Manchester United have struggled massively this season and failed to live up to the expectations. Following a poor start to the campaign, the Red Devils seemed to have turned a corner after winning three games in all competitions on the bounce. Having said that their task will only become difficult against a well-drilled Manchester City. However, City manager Pep Guardiola is not taking the game lightly.

Ahead of the mouth-watering Premier League contest, Guardiola spoke about how special a place Old Trafford really is. “Old Trafford, when I was in Barcelona or Bayern Munich and I travelled to England it was always special. It is a special place and here it is special for our fans. It is a game not like an FA Cup final or last games of the season that defines winning or not the Premier League, still we have only played nine fixtures and there are 87 points to play. We have to be focused,” Guardiola, quoted by the club’s website, said in a pre-match press conference.

Who does Pep Guardiola think are title frontrunners?

There is a surprise leader at the top of the Premier League table with Tottenham Hotspur at the moment. Few other teams are also considered as potential contenders, however, Guardiola is not going to be drawn into the debate for the title frontrunners just yet. “It’s too early. All the teams are there and the teams behind can be there. When you play just nine games many things will happen, we have been behind by a few points in February and March and then we were able to win. I want to see how is our mentality on Sunday in Old Trafford. We have won a lot, it’s not about if we win now what is going to happen. It’s not about that. I want to see in the right mentality to play for these points,” he explained.

Irrespective of the form, Guardiola feels that it will always be difficult to play United due to the qualities of the individual players. “United always have been – it doesn’t matter the manager – always they are a tough opponent. The qualities of the individuals they have, the stadium, the character they have, the momentum. They can score goals, we know the quality they have. Always that has been and always it will be,” he explained.

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