Manchester United and Liverpool get tomorrow's action rolling with the early kickoff at Old Trafford with United showing signs of improvement after what has been a difficult first season for manager David Moyes.
United have not finished outside the top three for 23 seasons but have not been in the top five since mid-November. In their past three games they have kept clean sheets and have two wins and a draw. They could close the gap on Spurs to two points if they win and Spurs lose.
"To see Man City doing well, and particularly Liverpool, is really difficult," the United striker Wayne Rooney told Inside United magazine.
“It’s not nice when we know we are capable of being up there challenging and we haven’t been doing that this season.”
Liverpool beat United 1-0 at Anfield in the league on September 1 and lost 1-0 to them at Old Trafford in the League Cup three weeks later.
They are 11 points ahead of United and are on course to finish higher than them for the first time since 2002.
"It's always a massive game but the difference this time is that Liverpool must be favourites. I can't remember the last time a Liverpool team went to Old Trafford in that position," the former striker Robbie Fowler told the Liverpool Echo.
“On paper, it’s a game Liverpool should win. They’re in great form and I am quietly confident Liverpool can get a big result there. People talk about how far United have dropped but I also look at it from the other side – how far Liverpool have come.”
With four successive league victories Liverpool will be optimistic they can win at Old Trafford for the first time since a 4-1 success five years ago.
Should they do so it would fuel the belief that they can still snatch a long-overdue league title, something they last achieved in 1990.
