Yorke: Swansea Win Vital

Dwight Yorke says it’s important Manchester United make a positive start to the 2013/14 Barclays Premier League, although he acknowledges this Saturday's trip to Swansea will be tough.

The champions travel to the Liberty Stadium to raise the curtain on one of the most challenging opening sequences of games in recent history, with key matches against Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City all scheduled into the first five rounds of fixtures.

Yorke knows only too well that you must beat the best to become the best and, as a result, the Reds idol believes the current team will relish the challenge.

“Swansea won the Capital One Cup and have played some great football under Michael Laudrup,” Dwight told ManUtd.com in an exclusive interview. “They have a really good system and make it difficult for other teams, so going to the Liberty Stadium will be a real test.

“We haven’t had the best results there and if we did, we had to work extremely hard. So it is a step up and we know which games are coming afterwards, so it’s important that we get off to a good start. If we can get three points at Swansea, that would be really amazing.

“But the Premier League is certainly looking really exciting and I’m sure the players here at this football club are looking forward to it because it will be the most testing time for them.”

Yorke also believes the new season will provide one of the most competitive title races in years - but he has dismissed the hype that up to six teams can claim the championship. For him, it will come down to the big three; United, City and Chelsea.

“It will be much closer than it was last season,” Dwight explained. “We lost two years ago on goal difference and I think it may come down to something like that again this year.

“I think the teams are that close. Just the three teams though, not the rest – I’m not too worried about them. I think Chelsea and City are the two who will be looking to take the title away from us.

“You have got to respect Chelsea, they have a fantastic squad and City have just spent £100million, although they do have a coach who is untested in this league – which will be a challenge for him. But those are the two big rivals and I expect it to be nip and tuck until the end.”

Dwight Yorke was speaking exclusively to ManUtd.com at Party Poker’s Road to Old Trafford event.