And those who follow United predict that the recent fall-out of the Luis Suarez-Patrice Evra spat is likely to inform most of what Kenny Dalglish refers to as “the banter” between the two sets of supporters. “There is much in common between United and Liverpool fans, far more than anyone on either side would admit to,” says Andy Mitten, editor of the fanzine United We Stand.

“But on this one there is absolutely no common ground. Liverpool fans seem to think the world is out to get them. United fans think Suarez was out of order and has been rightly punished.”But Mitten believes the virulence of the response has been intensified by Liverpool’s response to the claims of racial abuse by their star forward. “I have yet to meet a United fan who doesn’t think Dalglish and his club have handled it very badly,” he says.

Normally there is a grudging respect among United fans for Liverpool; the history, the fan culture, players like Steven Gerrard are all privately admired by many. But on this, all respect has gone. "That’s not tribal. I think everyone outside Liverpool FC thinks that.”And he adds that the recent FA Cup tie between the two clubs at Liverpool served to ratchet up the animosity. “At Anfield the United fans were all mocking the public address announcement about Liverpool taking zero tolerance to racist abuse.

"They were taking pictures of the signs around the ground asking fans to report any abuse they might hear. Because Patrice Evra did just that and what did he get? "He got called a liar by the club and had 40,000 people booing him. For what? For being the victim of racial abuse? How can anyone seriously defend that?
“So Suarez will get dog’s abuse on Saturday. It will be partly revenge for that, partly because of what he did, partly because he plays for Liverpool. The chant “racist bastard” to his signature tune will be sung all round the ground. "And Dalglish will get booed too for his attitude in all this. Most United followers will believe he and the club brought it on themselves.”

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Two significant things happened in the England Premier League this weekend. The first was that Manchester United produced a typical Manchester United comeback to wrestle a point away at Chelsea – in a second-half performance bristling with determination and skilful, smart football.

The other was that Luis Suarez, a man who – it has to be said – has sparked an unwelcome tribalism on the terraces, played his first game of football since 26 December, having served an eight-match ban for racial abuse. Not that the Uruguayan was given an awful lot of time to make an impact at Anfield against an oddly cautious Tottenham side on Monday night.

Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish opted to start with Dirk Kuyt instead, and the Dutchman repaid his manager’s faith with some heavy first touches and a general lack of finesse.

Suarez was booed raucously by the few thousand Tottenham fans who had travelled to Merseyside as he finally replaced Kuyt with 24 minutes to go. And his first touch was excellent, almost helping carve out an opportunity.

Then, his lack of match fitness betrayed him. A delayed pass to Andy Carroll spoiled a threatening Liverpool break; a free header from close range was guided meekly and directly at Spurs goalkeeper Brad Friedel. And somewhere in the middle of all that was a horrible kick at Scott Parker’s chest that one would expect to see only in a taekwondo bout.

Referee Michael Oliver had an excellent game and gave Suarez the benefit of the doubt, showing a yellow card (rather than a red one) almost apologetically as he surmised the number seven had been attempting to volley a dropping ball. It was hard to establish the level of intent.

Tottenham defended brilliantly at times. In addition, Friedel saved well from a Martin Kelly drive, and Carroll showed poor technique when smacking a half-volley over the bar.

But despite enjoying enough possession to make Alexander the Great blush, Liverpool could have lost the match when Gareth Bale broke free towards the end. The Welsh winger, in a strangely uncertain performance, hit his shot straight at Pepe Reina, and the result was a 0-0 stalemate.

So Liverpool are still four points, rather than a tantalising two, away from a Champions League spot that should really be theirs based on player expenditure alone. There had been a very different kind of draw on Sunday at Stamford Bridge.

Interestingly, Chelsea and United each had 10 shots on target in their encounter, the same as Liverpool produced. The difference was there were goals, three apiece. For so long, Chelsea enjoyed themselves, playing an interesting and fluid 4-2-3-1 formation in which Fernando Torres frequently drifted wide to collect the ball – and it made sense, given the propensity of the two wide men behind him,

Daniel Sturridge and Florent Malouda to drift into central positions. Whether Chelsea dominated United to the extent that a 3-0 lead was a deserved scoreline on 50 minutes was another matter, but what was clear was that the tactical battle between the two managers was overwhelmingly won by Sir Alex Ferguson from that point onwards.

Ferguson’s first move was to throw on Javier Hernandez, and use the Mexican’s blistering pace down the middle – with Wayne Rooney tucked in behind him – to push back Chelsea’s defenders. Danny Welbeck became a left-winger, and with Antonio Valencia surging down the right, United were suddenly a real threat.

But Ferguson needed more, and now utilised Paul Scholes in the middle, as Welbeck switched flanks. Valencia was asked to plug the gap left behind by the substituted defender Rafael and Ryan Giggs now operated on the left wing.

A more composed and more confident Chelsea side could have perhaps withstood the barrage, but many teams have crumbled when United have turned on the after-burners. Seeing the lead reduced to 3-2, and with 20 minutes to go, Andre Villas-Boas made his only substitution, and it simply conceded even more space, time and possession to United.

Oriol Romeu was the fresh pair of legs for Chelsea, but by plonking him in the centre of the park, Villas-Boas felt the need to push Juan Mata out wide. This placed huge pressure on the young substitute and meant Chelsea could no longer utilise Mata, so often their best player, where he was most effective.

With an air of inevitability, the United equaliser soon followed, Hernandez heading home from a Giggs cross. This was not a perfect weekend for United’s fans, however. Manchester City moved into a two-point lead at the top after a 3-0 win over Fulham.

United’s next match? Only a home game against Liverpool on Saturday, with Suarez surely primed to play from the start. I shouldn’t think for one second that Ferguson will decide to give Patrice Evra, the target of Suarez’s infamous outburst last October, a day off.

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Ferdinand and team-mate Patrice Evra were booed almost every time they touched the ball at Stamford Bridge yesterday, with some drawing a link between their treatment and the race rows that have erupted in English football this season. Ferdinand's brother Anton was the alleged victim of a racist slur from Chelsea captain John Terry, who last week pleaded not guilty to the offence ahead of an upcoming trial over the matter.

Evra, meanwhile, was racially abused by Luis Suarez back in October, something that saw the Liverpool striker banned for eight matches. Ferdinand shrugged off the booing, tweeting: "I got booed by the cfc fans today,....well done guys thanks for inspiring me & the lads! That's like fuel to me!"

Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas meanwhile said that while fans were wrong to jeer, the players making too much of it would do more harm than good. ""You don't expect opposing fans to cheer your players," the Portuguese manager said after the 3-3 draw. "This is a normal situation in the Premier League. "You have to condemn it when there is discriminatory, aggressive behaviour. We know the situations. We know we have to play a part.

"If we want to push on this sequence of events to extend in the future, it's up to us. It's up to me and it's up to you in the press. "If you want to give importance to situations like this, if you let people take responsibility, assume responsibility and the fans and the knowledge that maybe what they were doing makes no sense, it's better but to try to prevaricate isn't right."

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That low hum around the city was a purr of satisfaction from United's manger Sir Alex Ferguson who gleefully administered a little salt to his title rival’s wounds when he claimed, tongue-in-cheek, that selling midfielder Darron Gibson to Everton in the transfer window was “all part of the plan”.

Along the East Lancs Road, Gibson scored the goal that added to City nerves and it was also almost unnerving, given his previous unpopularity while a player at United, to hear his name sung out loud around the stadium after news filtered through that he had found the net at Goodison Park. “There’s only one Darron Gibson,” they sang. It would have been chanted in an ironic tone not so long ago.

That goal came with this contest already over, of course, with penalties by Javier Hernández and Dimitar Berbatov either side of half-time which killed any semblance of a match in which the home side should have pressed their dominance with a more heavily-weighted result.

It would not have been the only smile that Ferguson afforded himself with another sweet vindication of the decision to bring Paul Scholes out of retirement. The 37-year-old midfielder was the puppet-master here, pulling the strings. In a short-sleeved shirt, despite the bitter cold, he wonderfully threaded passes, created chances and even executed another of those cynical lunges, which is an unfortunate trademark of his career, to earn a booking.

And all of this achieved against Stoke City. One of the curiosities of Tony Pulis’s side is just how supine they can be against United — and in Manchester – and the manager remarked afterwards that it’s an inferiority complex that they don’t carry to the likes of Chelsea and Liverpool.

“We are up there in the top three in the league in how hard we work,” Pulis said. “It is just having that belief.” That belief was in short supply. Stoke can be so spiky, so difficult, so aggressive but they simply suffered from a complex stretching back decades that they cannot win on this ground. Pulis appeared to sense so much more was possible, against depleted opponents, and threw in four attacking players but this is a team whose season started back in July and they appeared tired. “The city is ours,” sang the United fans and this game was theirs almost from the opening minutes, such was their supremacy.

Stoke failed miserably to exploit any nerves felt by Ben Amos, as the 21-year-old goalkeeper was awarded a Premier League debut after both Anders Lindegaard and David de Gea were ruled out, suffering injuries in the same training session. Neither is thought to be serious while United hope to bring Wayne Rooney, Nani and Ashley Young back for the visit to Chelsea on Sunday.

Amos’s involvement was minimal. He easily clutched one dangerous cross from Jermaine Pennant and, managed to hold onto a close-range header from substitute Cameron Jerome but was never in danger of not collecting a clean sheet on his debut.

Instead it was only a matter of time before United themselves scored. Scholes snapped in a crisp half-volley from the edge of the penalty area which was deflected narrowly wide, Antonio Valencia was released in behind, only to wastefully cross from the six-yard area and then, there was a fine passing movement between Berbatov, Ji-Sung Park and, finally, Michael Carrick who wastefully shot across goal.
Another slick sequence of passes followed, though, and this time the imperious Scholes cleverly flicked the ball with the outside of his boot to Park, who ran on into the area only to be challenged by Pennant with a sliding tackle.

Referee Mike Jones ceded to the appeals and Hernández stroked the penalty low into the net, with Stoke protesting vehemently and Pulis claiming afterwards it was the wrong decision. Stoke soon buckled again with Valencia forcing his way past Jonathan Walters only for the Stoke midfielder to foolishly haul him back. Valencia went to ground and Jones awarded another penalty. This time Berbatov, who was the designated-taker, was given the responsibility and he squeezed his side-foot spot-kick underneath Sorensen. Game over.

There could even have been a third penalty with Andy Wilkinson bringing down Patrice Evra — the clearest of the lot according to Pulis — but it wasn’t given while only United’s wastefulness prevented a more emphatic scoreline with Berbatov a culprit as he fired woefully wide when teed up by Valencia yards from goal.

Ferguson was even able to bring on Paul Pogba, the young French midfielder who has been starved of opportunities, and whose future is in some doubt. He provided evidence to why he should be persuaded to stay with a diverting cameo. For Stoke there was no respite, no plus points.

Man Utd: Amos, Smalling, Ferdinand, Evans, Evra, Valencia, Carrick, Scholes, Park, Berbatov, Hernandez (Pogba 72). Subs: Kuszczak, Giggs, Welbeck, Fabio Da Silva, Rafael Da Silva, Will Keane. Booked: Scholes. Goals: Hernandez 38 pen,Berbatov 53 pen.

Stoke: Sorensen, Wilkinson, Huth, Shawcross, Wilson, Pennant, Palacios (Delap 75), Whitehead, Walters (Fuller 75), Jones, Crouch (Jerome 57). Subs: Begovic, Whelan, Etherington, Woodgate. Booked: Wilkinson, Walters, Huth.

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Terry’s court case for allegedly racially abusing Ferdinand’s younger brother, the Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand, begins on Wednesday, with lawyers representing the England captain set to issue a not guilty plea.

QPR players had decided to reject the chance to shake Terry’s hand before Saturday’s FA Cup tie with Chelsea, as a gesture of solidarity with Ferdinand, only for the Football Association to agree to scrap the pre-match ritual after petitions from both clubs.

Rio Ferdinand has not made any public comment on the row involving his sibling and England team-mate, and is anxious not to do anything which could inflame an already volatile situation, but it is believed that he is prepared to take part in the handshake when United travel to Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea and United could ask for the handshake to be suspended, drawing the sting out of the situation, but that is thought to be unlikely. Either way, the final decision will rest with the Premier League, with a spokesman confirming last night that they will wait for the clubs to approach them before deciding on their course of action.

The game between Chelsea and United is not the only one attracting attention for its pre-match pleasantries. Liverpool's visit to Manchester United on Feb 11 could also prove incendiary, given it is likely to throw together Luis Suárez and Patrice Evra for the first time since the Uruguayan racially abused the United defender in October.

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Manchester United will be happy to hang on to Manchester City’s coat-tails over the next few crucial weeks as the northwest rivals go head-to-head for the Premier League title. That was United manager Alex Ferguson‘s view after his side negotiated the first of a tricky run of fixtures with a 2-1 victory at Arsenal Sunday, hours after City got out of jail to beat third-placed Tottenham Hotspur 3-2.

Those results left City three points clear of United and eight clear of Spurs and, while the Londoners could still claw their way back into the picture, is looking like a two-horse race between the sky blue and red halves of Manchester. The next few weeks could go a long way to deciding whether City finally emerge from the shadow cast by Alex Ferguson‘s serial title winners.

City’s looming league fixtures look the easier and they will view the next half a dozen games as a perfect chance to turn up the heat on the defending champions.After Wednesday’s League Cup semi-final, second leg against Liverpool, when they must overturn a 1-0 deficit, they can look forward to hosting Fulham, Blackburn Rovers and Bolton Wanderers along with trips to Everton, Aston Villa and Swansea.

United, on the other hand, have Chelsea and Tottenham away in their next five league fixtures, as well as Liverpool at home – all that after this weekend’s FA Cup clash at Anfield.

There is also the small matter of City away in April. “I said before the game that we had four massive away games to come and that’s one out the way,” said Ferguson, whose ability to mastermind the run-in to a title chase is unrivalled, told United’s website. “What we need to do is stay on City’s coat-tails. Football is a funny game. The game at City today tells you things can happen and there will be changes.”

That task will be complicated by a nagging run of injuries which is stretching Ferguson’s squad to the limit. Rio Ferdinand was forced to miss the Arsenal match with a flare-up of his back trouble and Phil Jones lasted just 17 minutes before succumbing to an ankle injury.

“It’s not good news for us,” Ferguson, who is also without central defensive rock Nemanja Vidic, said. “I think Jones will be out for a few weeks — it’s ankle ligaments.”While City must make do without influential midfielder Yaya Toure while he plays at the African Nations Cup, they will be boosted by the return of central defender Vincent Kompany, who will be eligible for the away trip to Everton next week after completing a four-match ban.

Unpredictable as the top flight has been this season it is not too fanciful to suggest City could harvest maximum points from their next six games — a return that would test United’s staying power to the full.

Should United still be within striking distance once the days are stretching out and the daffodils are in bloom, however, the odds of them retaining their title will shorten rapidly. “I always say the league is not a sprint, it’s a marathon,” United’s experienced left back Patrice Evra said.

“We are still behind City but we have to keep going, keep winning games and I’m really confident in the team because everyone is working really hard and when we play with the United spirit it is difficult to beat us.”

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This was never going to be another 8-2 but the result must have felt as sweet to United and as sour to Arsenal, whose fans berated their manager for removing the energetic Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for the lord of lethargy Andrei Arshavin.

As the home fans seethed, as United seized on Arshavin’s lack of defensive effort to race through the gears and score the winner, the ­Emirates was reminded of United’s resilience, of their ability to win when not being at their breathtaking best. United boast the DNA of winners. Arsenal do not.

Here was a reminder of the champions’ considerable cadre of players prepared to take responsibility for the destiny of games, propelling them to victory. Antonio Valencia headed the first and was a force down the right all afternoon, attacking and defending, even creating the second from full-back. Danny Welbeck was terrific, leading the line and taking his goal emphatically. Patrice Evra was exceptional, a model of defensive determination and counter-attacking verve.

This was not a game that will feature in any highlights DVD of Wayne Rooney’s greatest moments, unless there is a section on diving, but the striker put in an immense shift of work in dropping off Welbeck and disrupting Arsenal supply-lines.

Painfully for Arsenal fans, this was also a reminder of the fallibility of their manager. An outstanding servant to Arsenal, deserving of respect for all his achievements and his commitment to the Beautiful Game, Wenger made a catastrophic decision with the scores at 1-1. Arsenal were in the ascendancy, having recovered from a shocking first half to level through Robin van Persie.

Oxlade-Chamberlain, all pace and purpose, was worrying United, sending hope sweeping through the home terraces. He had been a beacon amid the darkness of the first half, relishing his first Premier League start. He had helped lead the fightback in the second. He seemed the man who could win it for Arsenal. As the clock showed 74 minutes, Wenger took off Oxlade-Chamberlain, citing fatigue although the teenager seemed full of running. Van Persie looked on in disbelief, mouthing the word “no’’.

Yes. He really had done it. Wenger was in Édith Piaf mode, regretting nothing, and attempting to defend the indefensible by saying he had made 50,000 substitutions in 30 years as a manager, which works out at roughly 30 subs a game. No wonder the French economy is in such a mess.

The only numbers that really counted were those on the scoreboard. The mood changed with Oxlade-Chamberlain’s departure; the nerves returned, especially when the ball was near Arshavin. Valencia duly ran past him to set up Welbeck’s ­winner. For Arsenal, this was a chronicle of a death foretold. Arshavin’s commitment levels have been questioned countless times this season.

Injuries have hit them hard and hit them hardest at full-back. Wenger fielded centre-halves out wide, Johan Djourou and Thomas Vermaelen, and they were caught out badly by Nani and especially Valencia.
A sliver of controversy arrived before United’s opener. Alex Song made the slightest of contact with Rooney, who went down theatrically, pleading for a penalty. Mike Dean waved play on. Overall, Rooney was far more sinned against than sinning. Song led with his arm in challenging Rooney, catching the United striker on the head.

Just before the break it was ­United’s turn to inflict the pain, taking a lead that their greater tempo deserved. Evra began the move down the left, chesting the ball accurately to Nani, who invited the overlapping Ryan Giggs to have a run at Djourou. ­Valencia, stealing in ahead of the sluggish Vermaelen, headed home Giggs’s expert cross.

Wenger acted at the break, replacing Djourou with somebody who can play full-back, Nico Yennaris. As well as tweaking the team, Wenger seemed to have changed the mood. His players finally understood the importance of the game, the need for the type of sweat-soaked shifts that United were putting in. When Chris Smalling made a rare slip, Tomas Rosicky darted through, teed up Van Persie, whose shot flew wide.

United were being pushed back, almost up the Holloway Road. Oxlade-Chamberlain executed another step-over but fired just off-target. Even so deep, United were still dangerous on the counter. When Per Mertesacker misjudged Jonny Evans’s powerful clearing header, Welbeck ran through on goal, lifting the ball over Wojciech Szczesny. Mertesacker, showing unexpected speed, raced back to clear. Another United counter, after 71 minutes, cost them. Rafael, who had come on for the injured Phil Jones, exchanged passes with Rooney but was effortlessly dispossessed by ­Laurent Koscielny. Rafael resembled a confused child suddenly robbed of a sweet. He beat the floor in ­frustration.

As he did, Koscielny calmly played the ball out to Rosicky, who swept it from right to left to Oxlade-Chamberlain. With Rafael out of position, Valencia attempted to cover back but Oxlade-Chamberlain cut inside and found Van Persie. The Dutchman fired low between Evans’s legs and past Anders Lindegaard. Van Persie celebrated the goal by lifting his shirt to reveal a vest wishing a “Happy 91st birthday” to his grandfather Wim, who was looking on proudly.

Wim coming on might have brought a more positive reaction than Arshavin. The boos rang out for the Russian. It was all eyes on the bench as Rafael, already booked and in Sir Alex Ferguson’s bad books for his expensive run, went off, in a slight huff, for Ji-sung Park.

Valencia slotted in at right-back but never eschewed his attacking duties. With nine minutes remaining, Valencia was released by Paul Scholes and responded with pace and skill. Valencia turned into Barcelona. He ignored Arshavin’s version of tracking back, a few steps and a pirouette, and glided into the box. He played a one-two with Park before cutting the ball back to Welbeck, who drilled it in.

For all the legitimate criticism of Wenger and Arshavin, Arsenal’s failure to mark Welbeck was shocking. United duly closed down the game, defending with intelligence and resolve. Smalling headed out a Van Persie ball. Michael Carrick volleyed clear a cross from Yennaris.

It was all over bar the shouting at Wenger. The dissent did not last long, but Arsenal need some belief, some full-backs and to avoid crazy substitutions. United, meanwhile, continue to scale Olympian heights.

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Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea will undergo a laser surgery for an eye problem that impinges on long-range vision in one eye, after enduring an inconsistent start to life at Old Trafford. He is suffering from this condition since childhood and constantly wears glasses, and while playing football he uses contact lens in his eyes to overcome this deficiency.

However, United has refused to blame the matter for De Gea’s difficult start to life at the Theatre of Dreams, it was reported. The Spaniard was recommended before his 17.8 million pounds move to Old Trafford from Atletico Madrid in March, that his eyes were not prepared for the surgery yet. But now De Gea is hoping that he can have a surgery before the Olympic games commence since he has plans to participate in it. De Gea was dropped from United’s squad after his howler cost them their match against Blackburn Rovers on the New Year’s Eve.

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Uncertainty in defence is usually disastrous, but the rivalry between goalkeepers at Old Trafford is intriguing and may even be stimulating in the long run. Nonetheless, these are unlikely to be the circumstances envisaged by Sir Alex Ferguson when he prepared for life without Edwin van der Sar, now retired, in the Manchester United line-up.

Much as managers extol competition for places, they are generally happy to see the same man between the posts week after week. United, out of circumstance more than preference, have been calling that principle into question as David de Gea and Anders Lindegaard vie for selection.

It is unlikely that the club anticipated the current situation. Ferguson might have liked to depict them as equals who each had something to prove, but the contrast was marked. While De Gea cost £18.9m from Atlético Madrid last June, a club who won the Europa League in 2010, Lindegaard was already on the United payroll as a £3.5m signing from Aalesund and had his first outing with United almost a year ago.

De Gea, however, has faltered while his rival seems invigorated after overcoming the odds. There may even be a special satisfaction to keep him buoyant as he puts the sceptics to flight for the moment. A gift for defiance is particularly welcome in goalkeepers and the Dane must be revelling in it these days.

His great countryman and United predecessor Peter Schmeichel had been scornful when the early suggestions circulated that Lindegaard could be of service at Old Trafford. "We are talking about United here," he said. "You can look at talent, you can look at young good players, [but] you don't want that, you want someone who can go in straight away and give performances in 80% of the games that the No1 choice goalkeeper will play for United."

Those remarks appear obsolete, with Lindegaard full of conviction at present. Goalkeepers, peculiarly, are supposed to be soulmates as well as rivals, perhaps because each understands the stresses the other experiences. Nonetheless, Lindegaard does not conceal his satisfaction.

He has started three games since De Gea was held accountable for the 3-2 loss to Blackburn Rovers at Old Trafford. "I don't need a [guarantee] of my position," said Lindegaard. "I enjoy every game I play for United, it is a massive privilege." The goalkeeper even sounded fleetingly as if he had appointed himself mentor to a surely crestfallen De Gea.

"I am doing everything I can to help him," said Lindegaard. "I enjoy working with him. He's a great lad. He is happy, intelligent, always with a good attitude and we have to push each other.

"We have to see the glass half full, not half empty. It has been very good for both of us. Every time we play, the last guy to wish the keeper good luck is the other keeper.

"We have a very good relationship and I enjoy working with him. He has extraordinary attributes – extremely explosive and powerful. He is only 21. His potential is massive and there is no doubt he will be United's best goalkeeper at some point. My job is to make sure it is not until I have retired. Which is [in] 10 years."

That little piece of teasing is not merely jocular. At 27, Lindegaard is far from gnarled and the ambition shines through. "I am very proud of what I have made out of this. Three years ago I was in Denmark's second division. Nobody knew my name. When I first came here nobody could pronounce it. It has been fantastic to this point and right now is not the time to relax about it, but to keep pushing on, to get better and to get the best for yourself and the club."

The circumstances are still complicated. Any notion of United alternating goalkeepers would be folly, evoking a time, for instance, when Ron Greenwood's alternating of Peter Shilton and Ray Clemence for England spoke of indecision rather than the granting of equal opportunity.

Ferguson, however, is not to be taken as a ditherer. He might like to operate a meritocracy, but it is improbable that De Gea will be shoved into the margins of his thinking. The manager, indeed, has taken steps to counteract any such notion, with the Spaniard preferred for four of the six games in the ultimately unsuccessful Champions League group campaign.

De Gea seems to be treated as a long-term investment who is also meant to hold down his place in the line-up at the moment. Nothing will come easy to him or, indeed, to Lindegaard. Each could bemoan circumstances in the back four that see the centre-half and captain Nemanja Vidic lost to injury for the season just when Rio Ferdinand, as he ages, needs the aid of the Serb more than ever.

These taxing circumstances could be the making of De Gea. Or Lindegaard.

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It was the day that Manchester well and truly put London in its place. The new capital of football could hardly have made a more forceful argument, winning 13-3 on aggregate – and it was a scoreline that didn’t flatter the city.

United dished out a beating to Arsenal just hours later – putting eight past their old rivals. Wayne Rooney’s hat-trick and two pearls from Ashley Young were the highlights of an unforgettable 8-2 win that backed up every argument that the Premier League title would be a two-horse race.

But what has happened since?
 
While United remain on top – Arsenal have kept pace admirably. They have been allowed to fly under the radar while the Manchester United have grabbed the headlines. Here M.E.N Sport’s James Robson looks at the form of both sides since that remarkable Sunday in August – and just who will triumph in what promises to be one of the most exciting title races of all time.

United
That United are only three points adrift of City at the top of the table is nothing short of a minor miracle. Sir Alex Ferguson’s side has been decimated by injuries to key players – most notably Nemanja Vidic and Tom Cleverley.

As feared, he has struggled to replace Edwin van der Sar with David de Gea now being removed from the spotlight after a series of high-profile blunders. He failed to sign a world-class successor for Paul Scholes – and following injury to Cleverley has only been saved by the ginger magician’s shock decision to come out of retirement.

The truth is it could have been even better for United if not for back-to-back defeats to Blackburn and Newcastle over New Year. That the champions remain in touching distance is an ominous sign for their rivals. Ferguson’s teams traditionally come on strong in the second half of the season and with the injury list beginning to clear up, he could soon have a near full-strength squad to call upon.

Cleverley will be like a new signing – and there is still time for Fergie to enter the transfer market before the end of January. United’s title-winning know-how could prove their greatest asset in the closing stages with both City and Tottenham in unchartered waters.

Arsenal
The 8-2 at Old Trafford was Arsene Wenger’s most humiliating day in management. Unfortunately for the Frenchman, he has been humbled many more times since. That mauling was enough to prompt him to make a supermarket dash on transfer deadline day, bringing in Mikel Arteta, Per Mertesacker and Andre Santos. But Arsenal have rarely looked so far from genuine title-challengers under Wenger.

In truth, a top-four finish is their main target this season – one that is by no means guaranteed with Chelsea and Liverpool also in competition. The 4-3 defeat at Blackburn in September was another low, as were back-to-back defeats to Fulham and Swansea in their last two league games. Thierry Henry might have returned to an emotional fanfare but even he is falling out with supporters now.

Most worrying for Gunners fans is that for the first time in Wenger’s reign there is no clear sign of progress. His current Arsenal side is not a team in transition, as has been argued for much of the last eight years since their last title success.

Robin van Persie is the new figurehead of the club – but how long until he goes the way of Henry and Cesc Fabregas before him and heads through the exit door and to the promise of trophies elsewhere?

Jack Wilshere is the man Arsenal’s future hopes rely on – but at the moment he simply doesn’t have enough quality around him at the club.

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