Manchester United record goalscorer Wayne Rooney has shed light on who he thinks will come out on top of this season's Premier League title race between two of his former rivals in Liverpool and Manchester City.
The former England international was honest enough to concede he'd "prefer none of them" to be lifting the trophy come the end of the season, but was resigned to the fact it will be one of the two. City are in pole position given their slender lead at the top as Pep Guardiola looks to secure what would be an astonishing fourth league title in five seasons.
Jurgen Klopp's Reds are breathing down the City's neck and sit just one point behind them with six crucial games left to play. Rooney has explained how he feels Liverpool could still pip the Sky Blues to the post at this late stage of the campaign.
A former Everton star, Rooney is now at the helm of recently relegated Derby County and claimed that Liverpool may have the momentum going into the final furlong of the season due to their recent FA Cup semi-final victory over City. "I’d prefer none of them but obviously one of them is. I think Liverpool might nick it," Rooney answered when pressed for comment on the race for the title by Beanyman Sports.
"I think they’ve really looked strong over the last few months and I think winning the FA Cup semi-final could have an impact on that. So I’ve just got a feeling that Liverpool might nick it. I hope not – I’d rather City win it."
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Liverpool have enjoyed a particularly fantastic week given they registered wins over two of their rivals within the space of four days. Saturday's victory against City at Wembley was swiftly followed by a 4-0 demolition of Rooney's beloved United at Anfield on Tuesday night.
While the quality of City and Liverpool simply cannot be called into question, the intensity of the rivalry and animosity has - with some claiming there is not enough bad blood between the pair for their meetings to be christened the best rivalry English football has ever seen.
Rooney has given his verdict, claiming City's battles with Liverpool have now surpassed the bad blood between the two Manchester clubs. He said: "You see now the rivalry between City and Liverpool purely because they are the two best teams. So, for now it’s probably a bigger rivalry than what United-City is for instance but if you are successful that rivalry comes."
