Manchester United midfielder Marcel Sabitzer sends message to Man City and Arsenal

Marcel Sabitzer admits Manchester United are dark horses in the Premier League title race this season, but insists they’ll be ready to capitalise if Arsenal or Manchester City falter.

United briefly went second in the table on Sunday, raiding Elland Road to beat Leeds United 2-0 with two late goals, but they returned to third when City beat Aston Villa later in the afternoon.

Only five points separate the top three after Arsenal dropped points for the second weekend in a row, although United have played two games more than the Gunners and one more than City.

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One of those games in hand will take place in midweek, when the top two meet at the Emirates, and one way or another the outcome could be positive for United.

Whatever happens, they will remain third favourites to claim the title, but Sabitzer is determined they will uphold their end of the bargain and make Arsenal and City work for their rewards.

“It’s hard, we’re a bit behind them, but when we keep on going, doing our job, be ready for that and we will see,” he said.

United are the only team in Europe still competing on four fronts. They play Barcelona twice in the next 10 days and then head to Wembley for the Carabao Cup final against Newcastle, a run of fixtures that is energising January arrival Sabitzer.

“There are big games ahead, big things ahead, we have to keep going, keep improving, keep the energy high and we’ll see what happens at the end of the season, but we’re ready to go,” he said.

Sabitzer’s move to Old Trafford came about in the final 24 hours of the transfer window, when the extent of Christian Eriksen’s ankle injury became clear.

United acted quickly to identify the