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Fergie remains wary of rivals
20/03/2008 21:13 - (SA)
London - Manchester United hold a three-point lead over Arsenal and five over Chelsea with games running out in the Premier League season.
With 20 years of experience of winning titles in English soccer, manager Alex Ferguson knows that means nothing.
United have a tough game against fourth-place Liverpool on Sunday when Arsenal goes to Chelsea. Because his team also still have to go to Stamford Bridge, Ferguson knows that the wrong sort of results for the Red Devils could mean a big swing the other way.
"It's a lead, it's not a significant lead but it's a lead nonetheless," said Ferguson, who has guided United to nine league titles. "With eight games to go, the team who plays with the most consistency now will win it.
"It's nip and tuck now. I think it's going to go to the wire. Chelsea will be key because they have got us and Arsenal at home."
United moved three points clear on Wednesday after Cristiano Ronaldo took his league tally to the season to 24 goals in 24 starts with two more strikes against Bolton.
The 2-0 victory was one of three games in a row at Old Trafford, the next being against Liverpool on Sunday followed by a match against seventh-place Aston Villa on March 29.
Arsenal were idle on Wednesday and can thank north London neighbour Tottenham for stopping third-place Chelsea from moving level on points. Spurs hit back from 3-1 and 4-3 down at home to draw 4-4.
Still in the race
That meant Avram Grant's team dropped further behind United and made up only a point against the Gunners ahead of Sunday's meeting at Stamford Bridge.
"We have one point. We wanted three," Grant said. "We are five points off the top, still in the race and we will continue fighting."
The Chelsea manager is angry with media suggestions that Chelsea have been losing their most important games, including the League Cup final against Tottenham and FA Cup match against League Championship club Barnsley.
"I can be happy only that, in the league, we haven't dropped that many points, otherwise there would have been more 'big' games," he said. "Every game here is big. If we didn't win we wouldn't be in this position.
"What is a critical game? Every game at Chelsea is critical. If we'd lost other games, we wouldn't be in this position. Every game we win (according to the media) is a normal game. Every time we drop points is a big game."
Now Grant hopes that Chelsea's impressive home form - nine wins, five draws and no losses - will help them capture maximum points from their games against the Gunners and United.
Current form suggests that United have a clear edge, especially at a time when traditionally they are at their strongest.
United have won four games in a row in the league, conceding only one goal, while Arsenal have drawn their last four and Chelsea's draw at Tottenham ended a run of three wins in succession.
Ferguson also decided to rest some of his regular starters against Bolton - Wayne Rooney, Paul Scholes, Wes Brown and Patrice Evra sitting on the bench - so that they will be fresh for the game against Liverpool.
Must be disappointed
Liverpool have yet to beat United in the league under Rafa Benitez.
"As a manager you must be disappointed because every game we play against them we are really close," Benitez said. "We need to win and we are in good form, the team has confidence and I think we can beat them. It will be tough."
Benitez feels Liverpool's title challenge isn't over, despite trailing the Red Devils by 11 points.
"If we win, we can be closer, and then maybe afterwards we can be more optimistic," he said. "It will be really difficult to get closer to them, so we need to think about fourth position and the fight against Everton."
Away from the title race, there are important matchups involving clubs struggling to avoid relegation.
Last-place Derby, who could be only two away from being sure to go down, go to Middlesbrough, who are 13th and nowhere near safe. Next-to-last Fulham visit 14th-place Newcastle.
After their loss to Manchester United, Bolton need a victory over Manchester City to stand any chance of climbing out of trouble. Two more clubs in danger, 15th-place Reading and 16th-place Birmingham, face each other.
Only one place above the relegation zone, Sunderland go to Villa. Wigan, who have climbed to 12th but still only six points above the relegation zone, have a difficult game at at ninth-place Blackburn.
Saturday's other games are Everton-West Ham and Tottenham-Portsmouth.
Of the leading clubs chasing promotion to the top flight, the joint leaders in the League Championship are neck and neck. Stoke hosts Blackpool and Bristol City goes to Cardiff.
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