Jamie Carragher believes that Capital One Cup exits for Manchester United and Arsenal could be a blessing in disguise.
Both teams lost to lower league opposition with Arsenal defeated by Sheffield Wednesday on Tuesday night and United falling to Middlesbrough on Wednesday.
Speaking to Sky Sports however, Carragher was keen to point out that the defeats could actually boost the club's league campaign in the long run.
Arsenal are joint top with Manchester City and United are fourth and the former Liverpool defender believes that they will now be able to focus purely on their league campaigns.
Carragher said: "We'd all say Man City are the team we all fancy to win the title but I think for United and Arsenal it may not be the end of the world.
"They're the two sides now you look at who could sneak the title from City. If [Sergio] Aguero was out for a long time, if [David] Silva was out for long time.
"Those three weeks that you get [from not playing in the Capital One Cup], the training sessions with the manager, fresh for the weekend. It could actually help them in the long run."
"They'll be disappointed going out, the chance of a trophy gone, but in terms of the long run for the Champions League and trying to put pressure on Man City, it could actually work in their favour."
