Manchester United currently sit third in the Premier League
standings, six points adrift of leaders Liverpool - although with a
game in hand - as the ever-important holiday fixtures
approach.
The Red Devils have taken only a single point from the Big Four
rivals this season, but manager Sir Alex Ferguson is confident of
catching the front-runners.
He said in The Sun: “Our losses at Arsenal and
Liverpool were disappointing but we’ve got the away games against
our rivals out of the way. I’m sure we can make up ground.”
The Gunners, meanwhile, sit in fourth place after a tumultuous
start to the campaign which has seen them drop points against
relative minnows such as Stoke City, Hull City and Fulham.
But after their recent leadership reshuffle Arsene Wenger's men
seem to be back on track. They claimed three points at
Stamford Bridge two weekends ago, thus knocking Chelsea off the top
of the table.
And Ferguson is hoping the London giants can replicate
that sort of form not only when they face the Blues again, but also
when they play home and away against the high-flying
Merseysiders.
He said: “What we want now is for Arsenal to beat Liverpool and
Chelsea. They have just won at Chelsea but they have still got to
play them at home and they have got two games to play against
Liverpool.”
As the men from Anfield are putting up easily their best
title-fight since Rafael Benitez took charge of the club, some
are predicting a three- or even four-horse race.
The United boss is one of those expects things to be a little
less predictable than usual when May rolls around, and he has
pointed at the increased depth of competition in England's top
tier.
Ferguson said: “In the past, it has always come down to two
teams but I don’t think that’ll be the case this season.
“I expect the big four to take it right to the wire. The
improvement by other teams has made it much harder to go away from
home and pick up points — just look at the results Stoke and Hull
enjoyed against Arsenal.”