Manchester United are 12/5 to win the Premier League title this season but Sir Alex Ferguson is predicting a tough campaign and says there will be a dog fight just to make it into the top four.

The so-called big four of United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal have dominated proceedings for a long time but that was shattered last season when Tottenham broke into the Champions League places at the expense of Liverpool.

This season will be even more competitive as Manchester City have been spending like it is going out of fashion and anything other than a top four finish will be deemed a failure.

It means everyone is fighting for their lives and even though United are nailed on at 1/20 to finish in the Champions League, it looks like it will be tight and they may find themselves looking over their shoulders now and then.

Ferguson admits it will be tougher than ever following the emergence of City, who are 11/2 to win the title, while Everton and Aston Villa are also clubs who will be pushing all the way.

Gone are the times when a team only lost a maximum of four games when winning the title and Ferguson is well aware that no game is easy these days.

“Things definitely changed last season – it was a different league altogether compared to what we’d seen before,” said Ferguson. “The top four found it difficult and dropped points in games they wouldn’t have expected to.

“That’s an indication of the improvement made by other teams, and I think there’ll be a bit of a dogfight for the top four places this season.

“We all have to be aware of the threats from the likes of Villa, Everton, Tottenham and Manchester City – they’ll all be challenging to get into that top four.”

Chelsea are 13/8 favourites for the title but United showed at the weekend even without the addition of any new players they are the team that will run Carlo Ancelotti’s men all the way.

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