Manchester United legend Paul Scholes believes his former team can become the 'best of the rest' in the Premier League this season.
Arsenal and Manchester City appear to be the main two title challengers this term, with the duo nine and eight points ahead of United respectively. But the door is open for the rest of the top four places, with the rest of the contenders struggling to pull away.
Following a shaky start to the campaign, United finally appear to have got themselves together under new boss Erik ten Hag. The Red Devils are on a three-match winning run in all competitions ahead of the visit of Newcastle on Sunday.
And Scholes believes that Ten Hag's side have the perfect chance to kick on and secure their place above the likes of Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham. While he is cautious that it is still early in the season, the former midfielder is confident United can begin to make their mark.
"I’m sure Arsenal will have something to say about Manchester City running away with the league. It’s still very early, after them first two games, I was concerned they wouldn’t finish in the top six but the last six games, they’ve give themselves a great chance," he told BT Sport.
"They do look like the best of the rest, they’ve got the squad of players, it’s still very early days, players have come from different clubs, the management and the staff, they’re getting to know and find the right mix with his team. The longer it goes on, the more confident I’ll be they’ll finish top four.
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"They've got the squad to do that. They have to be more clinical, we keep saying that, the chances they create, they’ve got find goals somewhere - they’ve got goals we know that, it just didn’t fall to the right people tonight, Cristiano especially. I think them league games, Man United are more than capable of beating them teams."
Liverpool may have something to say about Scholes' prediction, though the Reds are currently six points adrift of the top four. One positive for them is the fact that United made hard work of defeating Cypriot minnows Omonia Nicosia in the Europa League on Thursday.
They were forced to rely on Scott McTominay's strike deep into second-half injury time to secure the three points. And Scholes believes their performance at Old Trafford will have annoyed Ten Hag.
"I think he’s frustrated, I think he’s expected a four or five-nil game and he’s frustrated with his players. It’s okay having a great performance, having a lot of chances, if you don’t score goals you don’t win games," he added.
"So that will be frustrating for him. He’s made some good subs, subs have helped United this season but that’s what subs are for by the way, if it’s not going right on the pitch, three, four players on the bench have to come on and change the game.
"They’re so dominant but you expect them to be against a team from Cyprus, if you’ve got ambitions to go on and win this tournament, you’ve got to really be comfortable in those games but they’ve got a little bit lucky with the group that they’ve got a win in the end."
