Manchester United are now considered the outsiders in the race for a top-four finish.

Off the back of their defeat to rivals Manchester City – Bookmakers have now moved United the least mostly likely from the top-six.

United are actually fifth in the betting, due to the fact that City can’t even be backed to finish in the top-four.

Man United boss Jose Mourinho insists that his side are firmly in with a chance of making the top-four – despite the Bookmakers putting them behind the likes of Tottenham and Arsenal.

“We knew that there is a difference in potential. Since the beginning of the season, we knew that our second position last season was a fantastic achievement for us, and this season we are going to fight for the top four,” he said.

“We are outside of that, we are having very difficult fixtures, away at Chelsea, away at Manchester City, almost impossibly difficult for us to win three matches in a row. Now we have to go for it and try to build on what we are doing.

Asked if that means the title is off limits, Mourinho added: “We are outside the top four. How can we speak about the title? To speak about the title you need to be in the top positions. So let’s fight to close the gap and jump into the top four, if one day we jump into the top four, we’ll see what the difference is.”

At 10/3 with Ladbrokes, Mourinho’s men are now bigger than they’ve been since the first ball was kicked back in August for a Champions League spot.

Bets are no longer being taken on Man City finishing in the top four, while Liverpool and Chelsea are 1/33 and 1/5 respectively. And the race for fourth spot currently favours Tottenham (1/2) who are more likely than local rivals Arsenal (6/4) to end the season in a Champions League place.

Alex Apati of Ladbrokes said: “United are so far off the pace in the Premier League right now, it’s no surprise to see them priced so big to achieve a top four finish.”