RTÉ Soccer analyst Brian Kerr believes that Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Liverpool has ended any remaining hopes Manchester United had of mounting a title challenge.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic's late header earned United a point at Old Trafford against their fierce rivals after James Milner had given Liverpool a first-half lead.
Both sides had their chances to win to game with United edging the possession stats but Liverpool creating more chances.
However with Chelsea winning, despite the fact that star man Diego Costa has been dropped from the squad, Jose Mourinho’s side now trail the Blues by 12 points and Kerr does not think they can make that up now.
Speaking to RTÉ Sport, the former Republic of Ireland manager insisted that United’s title push is over now.
"I think it puts Manchester United out of the picture," he said. "They’re 12 points behind Chelsea and it’s not just that they’re 12 points behind Chelsea, there’s also four other teams between them.
"I don’t see United catching the leaders.
"They may well make the top four, that’s not out of the question. They’re five points behind Spurs and Liverpool and four behind Arsenal."
The draw leaves Liverpool seven points behind the leaders but while Kerr believes that their manager Jurgen Klopp will feel his side should have won the game, he still thinks the Reds are title challengers.
"From Liverpool’s point of view, I’d say he [Klopp] was a bit disappointed. They had a couple of chances late on, Wijnaldum in particular, to win the game when Manchester United went gung-ho.
"It was quiet crude from Manchester United"
"[United] left themselves very scarce at the back, Valencia was caught up the pitch frequently as they tried to get more hoofed crosses into the box.
"It was quiet crude from Manchester United, their efforts to first of all retrieve the deficit and them maybe get the winner, which they didn’t get.
"I thought it was a fair result overall, Liverpool are still in contention but nonetheless it’s two points dropped because Chelsea are continuing to win."
