One-horse race! Chelsea’s Mikel backs Man United to cruise to the title

John Obi Mikel claims that Manchester United are the only team left in this season’s Premier League title race.

The Chelsea midfielder was on the losing side as Rafael Benitez’s men were beaten 2-0 by defending champions Manchester City at Eastlands on Sunday.

That victory helped Roberto Mancini’s men close the gap on leaders United back to 12 points.

But with 11 games left to play this season, Mikel believes that Sir Alex Ferguson’s men already have their 20th top-flight title all but wrapped up.

“It’s a one-horse race. To be realistic, I don’t think anyone will be putting money on us or City to win this title,” Mikel was quoted as saying by the Sun.

“It’s all about United. It is difficult to see anyone catching them.”

Sunday’s defeat dropped Chelsea down into fourth place in the Premier League table, leaving the Blues just two points behind Arsenal.

And midfielder Juan Mata has called on his team-mates to bounce back from Sunday’s defeat with victory at Middlesbrough in the FA Cup fifth round on Wednesday.

“The way to overcome the disappointment is winning again, and this coming Wednesday we have an opportunity to move one step forward in the FA Cup,” Mata wrote in his blog. “We can still win two titles.

“That, plus getting a ticket to play the next Champions League, is our motivation with a view to the rest of the season and we will fight for those goals until the end, like this club has always done.”