Premier League title would end up in Manchester but true test awaits, says Gary Neville

The former Manchester United right-back discusses the early-season of Manchester dominance and problem areas.

Gary Neville
Gary Neville is optimistic of the Premier League ending up in Manchester Reuters

Former England defender and Manchester United legend Gary Neville believes the Premier League title would end up in Manchester and the evidence so far supports that, but it's far too early for either club to get carried away.

Neville says the table will start to even out once we see them against tougher sides, with United having made mistakes at Stoke and there were chances for Everton, but ultimately the weaknesses they have shown at the back were covered by a goalkeeper in David De Gea who is absolutely world-class.

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"Jose Mourinho has always been a good manager at home and he is happy to sit in and let teams expose themselves, and United's record at Old Trafford is now no defeats in 12 months since City won there, he told Sky Sports.

Neville went on to add that the Arsenal of yesteryear were similar to this Manchester City side in terms of playing really exciting football, but the challenge is doing that in tougher games. He lauded the healthy competition going on at his former club in the left wing position.

The Old Trafford favourite believes Antonio Valencia's progress at right back over the last 18 months has been crucial to Mourinho's side but still sees issues on the left.

"He's been absolutely outstanding for the last 18 months, two years," Neville said of Valencia on Sky Sports, as reported by the Manchester Evening News.

"He is a top right-back now. He's strong, quick, supports the attack, and doesn't make any mistakes. United don't need to sign a right-back. To think they signed Matteo Darmian as the right-back, Valencia is head and shoulders above him.

"I think the problem is on the other side at left-back, where Ashley Young was put under a lot of pressure by [Tom] Davies and [Cuco] Martina. Blind's played there, Rojo's played there, Shaw's played there, Darmian's played there, and they can't button that one down."

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