We’re ready to compete for this title, insists Matic
NEMANJA MATIC believes Manchester United showed their title credentials by beating Burnley to go top of the Premier League heading into England’s ‘biggest derby’.
The bitter rivals meet at Anfield on Sunday with United leading reigning champions Liverpool by three points after Paul Pogba’s second-half volley secured a seventh away league win of the season on Tuesday.
It was not a straightforward evening at Turf Moor but Matic, 32, feels Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men have made their championship credentials clear.
‘I think this kind of win shows we are ready to compete for the title,’ said Matic, a two-time Premier League winner with Chelsea.
‘Sometimes [in the past] we looked
i think we are ready. after 17 games it’s not lucky – definitely there is a quality
like a team who wants to score as soon as possible, then we get panicked. We showed more maturity, we showed we are more clever and on this pitch, in this stadium, it’s always hard to win.’
The midfielder is excited by this weekend’s top-of-the-table clash, calling it ‘the biggest derby in England’.
The fact United visit Merseyside boasting the advantage over their nearest rivals is a far cry from the 30point gap Jurgen Klopp’s men opened up over the Red Devils when they last met 12 months ago.
Matic added: ‘I’m happy. I’m happy for the team, for the team performance, team spirit and let’s see Sunday against Liverpool. It’s the biggest derby in England.
‘We go there to compete with them, to see where we are (against) one of the best teams in the league, so I think that we are ready.’ Solskjaer has downplayed the importance of going top at this stage but Matic believes United’s current status is significant.
‘We played 17 games, we are top of the table, so that shows something,’ he said. ‘We didn’t play five or six games and you’re top, then you can say “maybe it’s lucky”. But after 17 games definitely it’s not lucky. Definitely there is a quality.
‘But we can’t relax. We have to be concentrated until the end – to go game by game.
‘Always in football the next one is the most important, the next one is the biggest final. We’re going to take [it] like that and we will see.’