Scholes would like City in 2nd division; considers Chelsea as biggest rivals

Posted on July 27, 2010 by A.Qureshi

Paul Scholes believes that Chelsea will be Manchester United’s main rivals for the Premier League title this season but remains wary of the threat posed by the now cash-rich local rivals Manchester City.

About which side will challenge United in the Premiership this season, he said: “Who will our biggest rivals for the title be? You have got to say Chelsea. And the rest… you just do not know.”

When asked about the ever-expanding Manchester City, the United Legend said: “City? We will have to see what happens there. They have bought so many players; whether they can gel together remains to be seen. It is great for the city to have two top teams, but I’d rather them be in the Second Division like they were 10 years ago! There has always been big rivalry between us anyway but even more so with the power they have got.”

“Will their spending help to motivate us? Yes. The last thing we want is City above us. It has not happened while I have been here and hopefully it won’t.”

The midfielder continued: “Liverpool could be contenders. It just depends on how they start with a new manager.”

“You always have to be wary of Liverpool. The season before last they were really close to giving us a major challenge. Last season, for whatever reason, it did not work out for them. It is much the same group of players, with Joe Cole added to it as well. I am sure they will be a good team this year round.”

“We have to be confident. Last year we didn’t win what we wanted to win, but, looking back, we definitely were not that far off,” he added.

“You do not want to use excuses, but the injuries we had were shocking really. Hopefully most of us can stay fit this year and hopefully we can go one step further than last season.”

“Plus, Petr Cech and Didier Drogba will be out at the start of season, injured for Chelsea. It is a big miss for them.”