By Joe Drabble Last updated: 25th March 2008
Ferguson: Chelsea threat
As I've said all along, the team who shows real consistency between now and the end of the season will win the league.
Sir Alex Ferguson
Quotes of the week
Sir Alex Ferguson believes the greatest threat to his side's hopes of recording back-to-back Premier League titles is the charge of Avram Grant's Chelsea.
The Blues' crucial 2-1 victory over Arsenal on Sunday extended their unbeaten run to 14-league games as they continue to push United all the way in the race for the title.
With five points now separating Ferguson's men and Chelsea, the United boss believes the Stamford Bridge clash between the two side's on 26th April could prove decisive.
"I think Chelsea hold the key," Ferguson said. "We've still got to go to Stamford Bridge where they've got a formidable home record.
"We have established a good lead but we're not taking anything for granted, we have to carry on playing the way we have been.
"As I've said all along, the team who shows real consistency between now and the end of the season will win the league."
The United side which beat Liverpool 3-0 in the first half of Grand Slam Sunday included just three players over the age of 30 - Edwin van der Sar, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes.
Ferguson admitted he is delighted with how his young side have blossomed this season as they continue their challenge for silverware both domestically and in Europe.
"We've developed as a team this season and I think you saw that maturity reach its peak with our win over Liverpool," he said.
"We've retained the consistency of last season, we're challenging for the league again and we're in the quarter-finals of the European Cup."

Stoke 1-0 Portsmouth - Fuller and Sorensen
Tottenham 9-1 Wigan - Defoe
Stoke 1-0 Portsmouth - Pulis
Stoke 1-0 Portsmouth - Shreeves' blog
Stoke 1-0 Portsmouth - Hart
Tottenham 9-1 Wigan - Redknapp
Tottenham 9-1 Wigan - Martinez
Bolton 0-2 Blackburn - Megson
| Time | Fixture |
|---|---|
| Wednesday 25th November | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 19:45 | Hull vs Everton |
| 20:00 | Fulham vs Blackburn |
| Saturday 28th November | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 15:00 | Blackburn vs Stoke |
| 15:00 | Fulham vs Bolton |
| 15:00 | Man City vs Hull |
| 15:00 | Portsmouth vs Man Utd |
| 15:00 | West Ham vs Burnley |
| 15:00 | Wigan vs Sunderland |
| 17:30 | Aston Villa vs Tottenham |
| Sunday 29th November | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 12:00 | Wolverhampton vs Birmingham |
| 13:30 | Everton vs Liverpool |
| 16:00 | Arsenal vs Chelsea |
| Saturday 5th December | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 12:45 | Portsmouth vs Burnley |
| 15:00 | Arsenal vs Stoke |
| 15:00 | Aston Villa vs Hull |
| 15:00 | Blackburn vs Liverpool |
| 15:00 | West Ham vs Man Utd |
| 15:00 | Wigan vs Birmingham |
| 15:00 | Wolverhampton vs Bolton |
| 17:30 | Man City vs Chelsea |
| Time | Result |
|---|---|
| Sunday 22nd November | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Bolton 0 - 2 Blackburn | |
| Tottenham 9 - 1 Wigan | |
| Stoke 1 - 0 Portsmouth | |
| Saturday 21st November | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Liverpool 2 - 2 Man City | |
| Hull 3 - 3 West Ham | |
| Sunderland 1 - 0 Arsenal | |
| Chelsea 4 - 0 Wolverhampton | |
| Man Utd 3 - 0 Everton | |
| Birmingham 1 - 0 Fulham | |
| Burnley 1 - 1 Aston Villa | |
| Monday 9th November | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Liverpool 2 - 2 Birmingham | |
| Sunday 8th November | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Hull 2 - 1 Stoke | |
| Wigan 1 - 1 Fulham | |
| Chelsea 1 - 0 Man Utd | |
| West Ham 1 - 2 Everton | |
| Saturday 7th November | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Aston Villa 5 - 1 Bolton | |
| Blackburn 3 - 1 Portsmouth | |
| Tottenham 2 - 0 Sunderland | |
| Wolverhampton 1 - 4 Arsenal | |
| Man City 3 - 3 Burnley | |
| Pos | Team | P | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chelsea | 13 | 33 |
| 2 | Manchester United | 13 | 28 |
| 3 | Arsenal | 12 | 25 |
| 4 | Tottenham Hotspur | 13 | 25 |
| 5 | Aston Villa | 13 | 22 |
| 6 | Manchester City | 12 | 21 |
| 7 | Liverpool | 13 | 20 |
| 8 | Sunderland | 13 | 20 |
| 9 | Stoke City | 13 | 19 |
| 10 | Burnley | 13 | 17 |
| 11 | Blackburn Rovers | 12 | 16 |
| 12 | Fulham | 12 | 15 |
| 13 | Birmingham City | 13 | 15 |
| 14 | Everton | 12 | 15 |
| 15 | Wigan Athletic | 13 | 14 |
| 16 | Hull City | 13 | 12 |
| 17 | West Ham United | 13 | 11 |
| 18 | Bolton Wanderers | 12 | 11 |
| 19 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 13 | 10 |
| 20 | Portsmouth | 13 | 7 |
Skysports.com looks at the best and worst moments from the latest round of top-flight fixtures.
Take a look back at what Liverpool and Man City fans had to say following a 2-2 draw at Anfield.
Bristol City fan Hannah Shine was strutting her as the Soccerette in the Soccer AM studios this week.
Jermain Defoe helped himself to five goals as Tottenham demolished Wigan 9-1 at White Hart Lane to move into fourth spot in the table.
Paul Hart played down the injury to David James prior to Portsmouth's 1-0 defeat to Stoke on Sunday.
Stoke collected all three points against Portsmouth thanks to a late strike from Ricardo Fuller.
Bolton squandered the chance to climb out of the bottom three as they were beaten 2-0 at home by Blackburn.
Tony Pulis put Stoke's poor first-half performance against Portsmouth at the Britannia Stadium down to nerves.
Comments (3)
Ikram Don (Manchester United fan) says...
I think that Man utd have what it takes to win the premier league this year and maybe the champions league as well if they carry on playing the way they have been. The win over liverpool on Grand slam sunday proved crucial for manchester united to go to the top of the table. As for arsenal i think it will be very difficult for them to win the premiership because they have alot of away matches still to play. Although Manchester united still have to play Arsenal on the 13th April and then Chelsea on the 26th they have to win at least one of them to win the premiership. And liverpool is most definietely out.
Posted 15:01 25th March 2008
Anthony Rowe (Manchester United fan) says...
I think that Arsenal's slide has shown everybody how quickly the title race can turn around. United will be aware of that and with the squad strength we have we should be able to keep going but it's going to be close. If the title is won before the last game I'll be impressed
Posted 13:44 25th March 2008
Shafie Khan (Manchester United fan) says...
Even im a Manchester united fan...i believe arsenal and chelsea still got the chance to win the title...because 7 more games to go and anything can happen cause this is football....now after watching the sunday showdown between the top four..whoever now play their game with real consistency will go on to win the title..but for me manchester united will retain their title because this season they shown us what real champions are..they play like real champions this season by playing beautiful football..and also their players are hungry for success...this year will be the colour of red again...so all united fans out there keep on cheering ur team till the end...GLORY GLORY MANUNITED!!!
Posted 12:00 25th March 2008