Top-flight title holders host the European champions on Sunday looking to close the gap at the top to 12 points.
Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has claimed that Premier League leaders Manchester United are “lucky” to be 15 points clear at the top of the table.
The Italian, whose champions entertain Chelsea in the top flight at the Ethiad on Sunday afternoon, still believes that his side can catch their arch rivals in the race for the title however.
“Until now, United have been really lucky with everything,” Mancini said in the Sunday Mirror.
“They have won a lot of games in the last minute – like against us when they really didn’t deserve to win.
“So I don’t think the gap between United and us is correct at this moment. They are doing better than us this season, for sure.
“But we have lost points in games we deserved to win, when we just couldn’t score.
“For this reason, I say this is the difference. Last year we scored a lot of goals up to this point. We’re maybe missing 10 goals and maybe seven or eight points.
“I remember in Italy being in the opposite situation to what we are now.
“I was in first place. I was 14 points above Roma at one point and yet we only won the championship in the last minutes in the last game.
“So it can happen. If United go forward in the Champions League, then the last two months will be hard for them.
“To lose five points before the derby means they have to lose two games.
“It’s clear that it won’t be easy for us to win the last 12 games, but if we do, it can happen.”
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