Manchester United midfielder Juan Mata has refused to give up hope of clawing back Manchester City in the race for the Premier League title.

The Red Devils trail their arch-rivals by 13 points at the top of the table ahead of the Citizens' game in hand at Arsenal on Thursday night.

After picking up one of their biggest wins of the season at home to Chelsea last time out, however, Mata claims that United can still come out on top should they put together a flawless run between now and the end of the season.

"We would love to be first, but what we have to do now I think is we have to try to win every game till the end of the season and then let's see in May where we are," he is quoted as saying by Sky Sports News.

"That's how we face the next games and that's how the manager tells us to face them. It's very important to not lose hope and to keep earning and adding three points after three points like last weekend.

"It shows we believe until the end, we are United and obviously we never give up, especially in those kind of games. It was a good feeling to earn the three points and have a few days of rest to now be fully focused on Crystal Palace."

United follow up Monday's trip to Palace with back-to-back home matches against Liverpool and Brighton & Hove Albion.