Ferguson expects two-horse title race with Chelsea

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson expects the title race to come down to a battle between his side and Chelsea, with other teams falling away.

Only 10 points cover the top six sides, while third-placed Arsenal can close to within one point of Chelsea if they win their two games in hand.

Ferguson said: “It is not looking like it at the moment, but history tells you that two teams break away at the end.

“Chelsea are the big danger because they too have great experience.”

Going into their final game of 2009, against Wigan, United lie five points behind leaders Chelsea, just one point worse off than they were at the same time last year, and having scored more goals.

Ferguson said before the season began, he had expected Chelsea to be their biggest rivals, and despite the best efforts of some other contenders, he still felt the same way.

“At the start of the season I saw Chelsea as our biggest danger and I have not changed my mind,” said Ferguson.

“Nobody has had a consistent run really.”

Considering the injury list they have had to put up with this season – now added to by goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar being given indefinite compassionate leave for family reasons – United’s performance is all the more impressive.

And their goal-scoring record – 40 in 19 Premier League games – is particularly eye-catching bearing in mind the loss of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid in the summer.

“People looked at us losing Ronaldo and saw that as being crucial,” said Ferguson.

“They felt we wouldn’t be nearly as good without him. Cristiano was an unbelievable player. But we have adjusted to it. There is only one point difference.”

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Posted by Bilal Sulehri on Dec 30 2009. Filed under Football. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry