Manuel Pellegrini has claimed that victory against Manchester United in the derby on Sunday will give Manchester City a psychological boost in their bid to win the title.
City are in fourth position, 12 points behind Leicester City having played a game fewer. Yet, despite Pellegrini’s side having just nine matches left to catch Leicester he is insistent that a win against United at the Etihad Stadium can provide a fillip for their challenge to be champions.
“Psychologically, it will be very important to try to win the title. Nothing more than that,” he said. “We are just thinking about winning the next game and winning the title. It’s important against the teams that are near you in the table, to win those games, but nothing more than that.”
United were knocked out of the Europa League on Thursday by Liverpool but Pellegrini does not believe this offers City an edge. “No, I don’t think we can take advantage of that, I don’t know what happens in Manchester United,” he said. “It’s not my duty what happens with the fans or Louis van Gaal. We will play against a strong team with all their history and they will do all they can to win that game so we must not be trusting in those kind of things. We must think about ourselves and the game on the pitch.”
Pellegrini does not believe that United will be out of the race for fourth place if they are defeated by City, despite them having to make-up seven points then. “No, I repeat the same answer to when you asked me about the title,” the Chilean said. “It’s important. It’s a game of six points, that would be an important difference but it’s not finished after that. There is 21 points more to play for so you never know what will happen.”
