Manchester United midfielder Nemanja Matic has insisted that the Red Devils must beat the teams around them if they are to lift the Premier League title this season.

United moved onto 23 points from 10 Premier League matches with a 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur at the weekend, but Manchester City still have a five-point lead at the top of the division.

Matic has claimed that City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham will all challenge United for the title this term, and the Serbian has spoken of the importance of winning the games against the so-called bigger sides.

"They are very important. I think that the title, you win in the let's say 'small games' but also if you want to be first you have to win games like this, especially when you play at home you cannot drop points," Manchester Evening News quotes Matic as saying.

"It's important for us, it's a lot of pressure on us but we managed to score and to win. They also had one great chance, we also had [Jesse] Lingard on the counter-attack. I think the game was equal but maybe we deserve it a little more.

"It's hard to say after 10 games that someone is going to be champion. In two games everything can change. I think there is five teams who will challenge for the title and if I say something now I will be wrong for sure.

"You have Manchester City, us, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham so with five or six teams it is going to be a big fight until the end and we will see in May. This is only 10 games but I'm happy that we are now second position, that we are there. We have a chance but we still have to improve."

Matic has played every minute of United's 2017-18 Premier League campaign to date.