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Manchester United’s Michael Owen expects Manchester City to go through 'sticky patch' in Premier League title race
Citizens lead the league by five points but the striker predicts they will slip up at some stage and hopes his side use their experience at the end of the season to overtake them
Nov 16, 2011 6:25:00 AM
By Joel Lamy
Getty Images
Michael Owen has fired a warning to Manchester City, telling them that there is still a long way to go in the title race and that Manchester United will be hot on their heels.
“They are top of the league, playing great – as well as they’ve performed in years,” he told reporters. “They’re on a crest of a wave at the minute, but every team will go through a sticky patch at some point and we’re still early on in the season."
City has raced five points clear at the top, winning convincingly at Old Trafford on the way, as they seek to take the Premier League crown away from their biggest rivals.
But Owen, while acknowledging that City are a force to be reckoned with, said that every team eventually slips up and that United’s experience at the tail end of the season could give them an advantage.
“They obviously beat us quite well in the league and deserved to win that game. But it was only a few weeks earlier that we played really well and beat them in the Community Shield," he explained.
"Everyone then was taking a step back then and saying, ‘It might be a year too soon for City’ and it just shows how quickly things can change."
He added, “We’ll see what happens after Christmas and start forming opinions then, but there’s no doubt about it, they’re a force to be reckoned with.”
“Man United over the years have always gone on great runs towards the end of the season and have pulled it out of the fire many times.”
“They are top of the league, playing great – as well as they’ve performed in years,” he told reporters. “They’re on a crest of a wave at the minute, but every team will go through a sticky patch at some point and we’re still early on in the season."
City has raced five points clear at the top, winning convincingly at Old Trafford on the way, as they seek to take the Premier League crown away from their biggest rivals.
But Owen, while acknowledging that City are a force to be reckoned with, said that every team eventually slips up and that United’s experience at the tail end of the season could give them an advantage.
“They obviously beat us quite well in the league and deserved to win that game. But it was only a few weeks earlier that we played really well and beat them in the Community Shield," he explained.
"Everyone then was taking a step back then and saying, ‘It might be a year too soon for City’ and it just shows how quickly things can change."
He added, “We’ll see what happens after Christmas and start forming opinions then, but there’s no doubt about it, they’re a force to be reckoned with.”
“Man United over the years have always gone on great runs towards the end of the season and have pulled it out of the fire many times.”
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