Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini is convinced Manchester United will stumble.
Mancini's champions could be 10 points adrift of their neighbours by the time they face Arsenal tomorrow.
But he said: "Until now, United have played very, very well.
"They deserve to be on the top. Maybe not by seven points more than we have, but this is football.
"But there are some moments during a season when even a top team like United can lose points. It is impossible to win every game.
"Last year United came back from five points behind to be eight points ahead so on that occasion they recovered 13 points.
"Even if we're 10 points behind, it is not a problem for us.
"We have another 17 games. I think we can recover these points. We should be ready when United lose a point.
"For this reason it is important for us to go our way and to continue to win."