(EMAILWIRE.COM, December 29, 2012 ) Madrid, Spain -- Sir Alex Ferguson, the always outspoken and often vilified manager of Manchester United, has warned all other Premier League sides that they should be wary of a Manchester club being at the top of the table come New Year's Day.
As the club heads into a four-game festive program, United lead their top rivals Manchester City, by a six-point margin.
"We have every right to expect a challenge. I think that's what we are good at," Ferguson said.
"That's why I'm looking at December as an opportunity to gather points and make sure we are top of the league come New Year's Day. And if we are top of the league on New Year's Day, you know fine well that we're going to be in the ballpark at the end of the season. We know there are going to be challenges, it could come from Chelsea too, but I think City and ourselves will be battling it out."
Roberto Mancini's side responded to their losing the Manchester derby with a 3-1 win over Newcastle, followed by a proper 8-0 thumping of Aston Villa. Ferguson stated that City's challenge for the title is far from fading, and will be something to keep an eye on down the road.
"Absolutely, it was great. It's a wake-up call for us too," Ferguson said. "I thought for the first 20 minutes, they played really well. You see the stats from that game and it's quite amazing. Newcastle had more passes and shots on goal. But you watch the game and you say to yourself: 'I can't see Newcastle winning the game.' It's a funny game, football."
While United's goal difference is better than City's, which was their downfall last season, Ferguson was unhappy that a lackluster Sunderland side were not beaten by a wider margin than the 3-1 final. "It's just a disappointment we didn't hammer home the advantage we had at 3-0. We just put the tools away and Sunderland did get a spark of life when they brought on Connor Wickham. He was a handful and in the last 20 minutes they did create chances," Ferguson said.
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