---
title: "Jones – United are still in the title race"
canonical: "https://readmanutd.com/2016/01/02/jones-united-still-title-race/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
section: "Man Utd Match Previews"
published: "2016-01-02T08:20:19Z"
modified: "2016-01-02T08:20:19Z"
---

# Jones – United are still in the title race

Manchester United defender Phil Jones has insisted that the club are not out of the Premier League title, even though they are on their worst run for over 25 years.

United are currently on a nine-game run without a win and have not scored in eight of those games but they are hoping to gain three points this weekend against Swansea at Old Trafford.

Van Gaal’s side poor form means that they have dropped out of the Champions League spots, and even the Europa League spot. The club entered the New Year in sixth place, even on points with Liverpool and just one point ahead of both Watford and West Ham.

![Dave Thompson/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readmanutd.com/readmanutd/2016/01/502479546.jpg)

Despite this, players are still optimistic that they can turn this poor form around and even contest for the Premier League title by the end of the season.

The 23-year-old told [MUTV](https://www.manutd.com/en/News-And-Features/Football-News/2015/Dec/phil-jones-says-things-can-still-turn-around-quickly-in-manchester-uniteds-favour-in-title-race.aspx):

> It’s strange but the table shows that literally anyone can win the league this season. Arsenal, Chelsea, Leicester, (Manchester) City, ourselves, Tottenham, Stoke, Watford… nobody seems to want to win it.
>
> It only takes a good run of five, six, seven games and getting a few wins and it soon turns around. We’re disappointed with the way we’ve played over the past few games, although we did well against Chelsea, but by no means are we out of (the title race). If we can put a few wins together we’ll be right back up there.

![Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readmanutd.com/readmanutd/2016/01/490711978.jpg)

As Jones pointed out, the side did seem to have some spirit within them in their last game against Chelsea as they looked threatening for the first time in a few games.

Even though David de Gea was in impeccable form and was probably the only reason United kept a clean sheet, United managed to create quite a few chances for themselves and they deserved the point they received.

The defender also pointed out that United have kept 10 clean sheets in 19 games this season and that should be looked at as an achievement:

> I was always taught as a youngster that if you keep a clean sheet you’ve got a great chance of winning the game and we’ve done that more often than not this season.
>
> Norwich and Stoke were games in which we conceded sloppy goals, but other than those matches we’ve been pretty solid. Everyone who’s played has done their job and we hope we can carry that on and produce more clean sheets.

Jones hasn’t had much playing time this season due to injuries but both Chris Smalling and Daley Blind have covered his absence up well with consistently good performances.