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Man United on brink of another Premiership glory

When Sir Alex Ferguson walked through the door at Old Trafford in 1986 he memorably defined his job at Manchester United as "knocking Liverpool off their f***ing perch."

Twenty-two and a half years years later, the Scot finds himself on the brink of being able to declare "mission accomplished".

One point against an Arsenal side with nothing to play for in Saturday's lunchtime encounter will secure yet another triumph for one of the most extraordinary personalities his country has produced.

One point will mean a third consecutive Premier League title, the 11th of Ferguson's reign, the third trophy of this season and, most importantly for the man himself, it will mean that United have finally matched Liverpool's record haul of 18 English titles.

Arsenal are eminently capable of gate-crashing the party of course, but all the signs are that it should be an afternoon to savour on the Stretford End.

Memories of United's end-of-March blip have receded as the champions have hit their stride in recent weeks and they had something in reserve as Arsenal were swept aside in the Champions League semi-final earlier this month.

Typically, Ferguson has refused to let his players relax even though the finishing line is in sight, challenging them instead to take maximum points from their last two matches and finish the season with 92 points, which will be a club record in the Premier League.

The mood in Arsenal's camp will not have been helped by last weekend's 4-1 humiliation at the hands of Chelsea, but the recovery of Russian playmaker Andrey Arshavin from a flu virus gives Arsene Wenger's side a weapon they were unable to deploy in the Champions League, although they will be without injured first-choice goalkeeper Manuel Almunia.

For Arsenal, who have now gone four years without any silverware, the day is likely to trigger bittersweet memories of 2002, when Sylvain Wiltord's goal clinched 1-0 win and the title at Old Trafford.

Wenger has hinted that he will seek to add some experience to his squad, but he has also cautioned Gunners fans not to expect a summer splurge and reiterated his faith in his tyros.

"I believe in this team and from what I have seen in this season, that makes me quite optimistic. These players have the quality to beat anybody else."

While Wenger has graciously conceded that United have earned the title, there has been no such concession from his Liverpool counterpart Rafael Benitez, who will be keeping his fingers crossed for a Gunners victory that will keep the title alive until the final day of the season.

Liverpool travel to bottom side West Brom on Sunday and, if the title is lost by then, the Spaniard will readily pin most of the blame on bad luck with injuries.

"You cannot imagine if Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres had been fit all season where we would be now," Benitez said. "It has been a good season but we know it could be better."

Four points from their final two matches will guarantee Liverpool of second place ahead of Chelsea, who entertain Blackburn on Sunday with their thoughts increasingly focused on the FA Cup final against Everton at the end of the month.

At the other end of the table, both West Brom and Middlesbrough know defeat, at home to Liverpool and Aston Villa respectively, will make relegation a virtual certainty.

Hull have been installed as the favourites to join the bottom two in the Championship next season after slipping into the drop zone as a result of Newcastle's win over Middlesbrough on Monday.

And with Manchester United due at the KC Stadium on the last day of the season, Phil Brown's side know they must go all out for a win at Bolton and hope that Newcastle slip up at home to Fulham.

Wins for both Hull and Newcastle on Saturday would leave Sunderland in the bottom three ahead of their trip to Portsmouth, who are also not completely safe yet, on Monday.

Fixtures (1400 GMT unless stated):

Saturday

Bolton v Hull, Everton v West Ham, Manchester Utd v Arsenal (1145 GMT), Middlesbrough v Aston Villa, Newcastle v Fulham, Stoke v Wigan, Tottenham v Manchester City

Sunday

Chelsea v Blackburn (1500 GMT), West Brom v Liverpool (1230 GMT)

Monday

Portsmouth v Sunderland (1900 GMT) AFP


Milan sets sights on qualifying for Champions League

AC Milan must earn at least one point on Saturday at Udinese to keep the title chase alive for another day, but manager Carlo Ancelotti has turned his attention towards automatic qualification for next season's Champions League.

A win on Saturday in Udine would secure at least a top-three spot for the Rossoneri, which is why Ancelotti feels as though his team must come away with three points.

"It will be an important game," Ancelotti said of Saturday's contest. "The team knows what it must do: we want to reach as soon as possible the three points which will assure us of the mathematical qualification to the next Champions League. From now until the end of the season there are three difficult games and we don't want to arrive to the match against Fiorentina in need of points. For this reason, we want to win."

The manager may have been a bit distracted this past week with rumors of his potential departure to Chelsea continuing to swirl, while club owner Silvio Berlusconi openly blamed the boss for Milan's failure to win the Scudetto.

However, vice president Adriano Galliani has attempted to downplay the rift.

"Carlo Ancelotti is calm and doing well, there's no problem," he told Milan's official website.

"I reiterate that there won't be any meetings between him and president Berlusconi who at the moment is exclusively fulfilling his role of prime minister."

Even if Ancelotti is playing out the last few games of his Milan tenure, he would do well to return the club to the Champions League, and with a four- point lead on third-placed Juventus entering the weekend, the team has a very good chance at finishing second.

Ancelotti will be without both Giuseppe Favalli and David Beckham because of suspension, while Udinese will be trying to extend its winning streak to six games as they continue to search for a European spot.

Udinese is just one point behind seventh-placed Palermo, and they will be entering Saturday's match hoping to erase the memory of a 5-1 drubbing at the hands of Milan in December.

"The five-goal defeat from the first game still hurts," Udinese defender Cristian Zapata told the club's official website.

"On Saturday we must play a great game and try to win. Everything depends on us, we must believe and remain concentrated for all three games between now and the end of the season."

Should Milan win on Saturday, Inter would then need to beat Siena on Sunday to secure the title, while Juventus will be looking to lock up a Champions League spot with a win against Atalanta.

Fourth-placed Fiorentina leads Genoa by three points and the Viola will host Sampdoria, while Genoa entertains Chievo and sixth-placed Roma takes on Catania.

Last-placed Reggina is four points from safety and they play host to Cagliari, while 19th-placed Lecce invades 18th-placed Bologna.

Lazio defeated Sampdoria on penalty kicks to win the Coppa Italia on Wednesday and they travel to Palermo, while Torino is just one point above the drop zone and hits the road to meet Napoli. Sportsnetwork.com