Premier League defender says why Manchester United are “in the title race”

On Sunday afternoon, Manchester United secured their first domestic trophy in six years as Erik ten Hag led his squad to a Carabao Cup victory.

Casemiro and Marcus Rashford were on the score sheet as Erik ten Hag secured his first trophy a Manchester United manager with a 2-0 victory over Newcastle United.

With one trophy now in the bank for Ten Hag and his squad, the focus will turn to the rest of the season, and the chance to claim more silverware.

With the Carabao Cup concluded, United are in three remaining competitions: the FA Cup, Europa League, and Premier League.

Read More: Five things learned as Manchester United win Carabao Cup final 2-0 vs Newcastle

Despite a poor start to the league season, Manchester United are starting to become grouped in with Arsenal and Manchester City – the two sides who currently occupy the top of the table.

This season, City, United, and Arsenal have pulled away as the top three teams in the country, as the other three in the “big six” – Chelsea, Liverpool, and Tottenham – have struggled to break into Champions League places.

Manchester United currently sit six points behind City in the table, having played a game less. They have played the same number of fixtures as Arsenal (24), and sit eight points behind Mikel Arteta’s league-leading side.

However, this has not stopped footballers currently playing England’s premier competition from putting Hnited in the mix for the title – with Brentford defender Ben Mee saying United should be considered contenders.

Speaking on on BBC Radio 5 Live on Sunday afternoon, Mee said: “I think Man Utd are in the title race, anything can happen. Teams have been dropping points above them and there’s no reason why they can’t challenge.

Read More: Christian Eriksen provides injury update as Man United win Carabao Cup

“They’ve built up a lot of belief in recent weeks and they will be full of confidence going into the final few months of the season.”

Despite these growing shouts, Erik ten Hag has been keen to point out that United are still taking every game just one at a time, without putting too much emphasis on the larger context.

“We have to put the energy and the focus into the next games, and games [after that], because first, we have the Carabao Cup, the FA Cup and then the Premier League,” he said on Friday.

Manchester United will play West Ham United in the fifth round of the FA Cup, before travelling to Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon.