Manchester United’s 2021 is off to an even better start after rivals Liverpool lost to Southampton on Monday night.
Liverpool were beaten 1-0 at the Saints, with Jurgen Klopp’s unable to pull off a comeback like United did at St Mary’s.
Jurgen Klopp’s side look out of sorts, recently dropping points against Sam Allardyce’s West Brom too.
This has provided hope for United, who entered the night level on points with Liverpool.
United now have a game in hand, away at Burnley. This will be played next week, after matches against City and Watford in the cups.
Re-arranging the Burnley fixture before the Liverpool game in mid-January could be a masterstroke.
A win would allow United to head to Anfield three points clear at the top of the table.
This will present a real psychological edge and enable United to go six points clear with a win.
One game at a time
Of course we should not get too far ahead of ourselves and the mantra from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be ‘one game at a time’.
After the cup games, United will face a Burnley team which has been poor this season but are beginning to pick up a bit of form.
They have two wins and a draw from their last four games including a win over Wolves. Unlike early in the season, they will be no pushovers.
A draw would be a disappointing result but it would still be an advantage to take to Anfield.
It is worth considering that even in a best case scenario in which United beat Burnley, then Liverpool and open up a six point gap, the season will still be one short of the halfway point with 18 out of 38 games played.
There is a long way to go and the title will go to the most consistent team. United have a lot a battles to overcome yet. However the way United played throughout 2020 and kept up form gives some hope the team can maintain it. When you have Bruno Fernandes, anything feels possible.
It’s great to be back in a title race after so long. This would be a nightmare for Liverpool fans, to lose their trophy to United after just one year.
Let’s get through the Carabao Cup semi-final against City, then see off Watford in the FA Cup, and then turn our minds back to dreaming of number 21…
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