As with our last match, this one pits us against another team that find themselves very much part of the relegation battle but the difference this time is that we have home advantage.

After the excellent performance against Blackburn which I think proved to everyone that we don’t intend to let this lead slip without a fight I find it very hard to believe that we’re going to come off the pitch here with anything less than the three points and QPR’s away form has been pretty dismal this season (their home form hasn’t been too much better, either).

There is an element of banana-skin about it though. I’m pretty sure that we felt this confident when Blackburn came to town a few months ago and we all know what happened then.

However, I’m not going to read too much into this one. We do have a game against Wigan just a few days later and this might mean that Fergie rings a few changes with the personnel (Nani could return, for example) and this perhaps presents the biggest “danger” – that Fergie makes too many changes.

If all goes to plan though, we should win this one and win it comfortably.

The problem is finding a decent bet for this one. The bookies seem to agree that we’ll win by a good couple of goals and that it could even be three or four so it looks like I might have to go against the grain again here in search of a decent price.

I would certainly like to see the team-sheet prior to placing this bet but I do have a slight suspicion that there will be some changes to the line-up this afternoon and that QPR will dig in and make this as tight as possible. We saw against Fulham the other week how this can affect us and something similar would not be totally out of the question.

The bet is 3 points Under 3.5 goals @ 1.80 with BetVictor.

With City dropping points over the weekend, we have the chance to go five points ahead with a win from this one.

However, as I mentioned in my post after the City result, three points from games at Ewood Park have not exactly come easily for us in recent years for reasons unknown and it doesn’t seem to matter very much what kind of form Blackburn are going into a match with us with, they always seem to give us a tough match.

Our home defeat against them earlier this season stands out like a sore thumb but given our general record against Blackburn, it wasn’t totally surprising. They have had quite a lot of joy against us home and away down the years and in the last nine meetings between us at Ewood Park, we have only managed to actually beat them twice.

So, the champagne might have to remain on ice for a little longer.

Certainly, we will have to perform better than we did against Fulham last week when our performance was littered with mistakes in an extremely nervy display and it was probably only down to the fact that Fulham only seemed to want to play for the final 5-10 minutes that we came through that one unscathed (and even then we had to rely on a fairly dodgy penalty decision going our way).

As for Blackburn. Well, they have had their problems this season and still remain very much part of the relegation dogfight – only goal difference is keeping them out of the actual relegation places at the moment but a few decent home results of late have really given them a sight of a light at the end of the tunnel and they would certainly view a point here this evening as another huge step in the right direction and, given the fact that they have already beaten us this season and the fact that we looked so nervy last week, they might even fancy their chances of pulling off another shock and taking all three again.

Personally, I hope that Blackburn do come out and give us a proper game. I feel that Fulham’s negativity last week really didn’t help us at all. Being the home team and the team everyone expected to win, the onus was already on us to take the game to Fulham but we seemed to deliberate too much over how we went about it. Passes which should have been fast and instinctive were given far too much thought and, as a result, we made mistakes. Passes were under-hit and passes went astray. Almost unbelievable from players who could probably pass the ball between themselves blindfolded in training.

I just feel that a good old battle with a team that wants to play would do us wonders here tonight. There’d be no time for nerves and the more instinctive, high-tempo game at which we excel could come to the fore again.

As for a bet, it is hard to be totally confident about anything at the moment – we really are at the nitty gritty end of the season now and playing teams that are fighting for their Premier League survival is often not as easy as paper form would have you believe.

However the bookies seem to think that this will be a fairly high-scoring game and, there’s every reason to believe that this will be the case. I believe that last weekend’s 2-0 victory against Sunderland was the first clean sheet that Blackburn have kept at Ewood Park this season so a goal or two for us would come as no great surprise. The key will be our ability to defend our own lines. Blackburn have some decent attacking players who present danger and clean sheets haven’t exactly been our strong point this season, either.

But, I think I’m going to go against the grain a bit here. Whilst I hope that this will be a gung-ho type match, it could well end up a cagey affair – a point apiece would not be the end of the world for either team but a defeat would be a major blow for the loser.

A lot may depend on how early the first goal is scored – an early goal and the floodgates might open at both ends but if the first goal is scored after 30 minutes or so then it could end up with the leader trying to hang on to what they have.

The bet is 2 points Under 2.5 goals @ 2.37 with BetVictor.

Well, this one was painful to watch. At the end of the day, we got the three points and I’m certain Fergie would take eight 1-0 wins in our last eight games but hopefully not like this or we’ll all be on medication for nerves and stress by the 13th May.

On a night when I hoped United would sweep Fulham aside and show City that not only do we mean business but we’re actually getting better as the season draws to a close, we actually just looked very nervy at times.

To be fair, Fulham made it very difficult and, even when 1-0 down, refused to come forward in any numbers until the closing moments which made breaking their ten man defense down almost impossible but we didn’t help ourselves on so many occasions as almost everyone was guilty of under-hitting passes, misdirecting passes and just sometimes failing to even make the pass.

Only on two stand-out occasions did we play our more instinctive, free-flowing passing and on both occasions, it very nearly led to a goal, the rest of the time, we looked very deliberate, very cautious and this, ironically, made us look more careless.

So many final balls were poor and when we did get an opportunity, Fulham had a block on or the keeper produced a save which meant that despite us having 19 shots (16 on target!) we only scored the one solitary goal.

Obviously, this made the closing minutes extremely tense as Fulham finally decided to have one last throw of the dice which very nearly paid dividends as Danny Murphy was tripped in the box by Michael Carrick for what, probably should have been a penalty.

However, the ref waved it away and, to be fair, after so much dominance, it would have been a cruel blow had we ended up sharing the points here because there was only one team trying to score for the vast majority of this match.

On the Murphy penalty appeal though, I must say that whilst it was technically a penalty (there was clear contact by Carrick) it looked very much to me like Murphy was trying to buy it. Clear through on goal, it looked like he could have had a blast at any moment but he seemed to jump strangely upwards so that his forward momentum stopped (meaning Carrick bustled into the back of him slightly) and then, on landing, his legs went off in some very strange directions (meaning that Carrick’s foot made contact with his… or was it the other way around?). I just don’t think Murphy had any intention of actually shooting and was looking for the penalty all over the place.

Anyway, we got away with it and we now sit three points clear of City at the top of the table.

As Manchester United fans, there hasn’t been much in the way of action to get our teeth into over the last week or so and we’ve had to content ourselves with watching City almost hand us the title without us even kicking a ball.

Firstly, they had to come from behind against Chelsea and, whilst I had a feeling that they would get at least a goal back, to see them go on to win the game was a bit of a sickener. However, Stoke did us a huge favour over the weekend by holding City to a draw (once again, City had to come from behind after Peter Crouch – the most under-rated English striker out there, in my opinion – produced one of the best goals I have ever seen).

I suppose that the way City did come from behind in those games does show that they have the stomach for the battle but the fact that they found themselves behind in the first place would suggest that the days earlier in the season when they were blowing sides away by four and five goal margins have been lost under the weight of expectation that now rests on their shoulders as we hit the final furlong of the title race.

The upshot of all this is that we can go three point ahead again this evening with a win over Fulham and make further inroads into the goal difference which now stands at just plus four for City and could yet prove crucial (although we often think this, it never actually comes down to goal difference but I would prefer to have that in our favour, just in case – I cannot imagine a worse way to lose a title than on goal difference).

Despite some dodgy results in Europe this season, especially at home, we have generally looked very focused when playing our Premier League matches of late and since the shock defeat against Blackburn right at the end of 2011, we have won all four of our home Premier League matches with a fair degree of comfort.

With the squad now more or less as strong as it was ever going to be this season following Vidic’s terrible injury, there is every reason to believe that we can go out and win comfortably again this evening. Unlike most of our rivals, we seem to have genuine goal threats in several areas of the pitch and more besides on the bench – things seem to be coming together at just the right time.

Our record against Fulham at Old Trafford is generally excellent – we have won the last seven meetings, scoring twenty goals whilst conceding just three (the last came in 2006!). Another 2-0 or even 3-0 would not be beyond us this evening – especially as Fulham’s away record is almost as bad as anybody’s so far this season.

I find it impossible to believe that any notion of complacency will come into this one – either from the players or the manager with his team selection. I feel that City are just starting to feel the pressure at the moment and we need to keep turning the screw with every opportunity we get – tonight represents a huge opportunity.

The price isn’t great but I do feel that we will win comfortably this evening so the bet is going to be on a United win by at least two goals.

The bet is 5 points United -1.5 AH @ 1.67 with Bet365.

With City not playing until later this afternoon, we have a chance to go to the top of the table here (for a couple of hours, at any rate) but it is clearly going to take a better performance than the one we saw against Bilbao in midweek because whilst some of our home form has been dodgy this season, West Brom’s away form has been generally very good.

They currently sit in fourth place on the away form table but it is noticable that most of their defeats have come against the better clubs in the league that they have played (Spurs, Chelsea, Arsenal). A defeat at Swansea, given that most teams have struggled there, also doesn’t come as a massive surprise.

I think Wednesday’s team selection, the overall team performance and the complete lack of any real emotion from Sir Alex after the match said it all about where our priorities lie for the rest of this season. We have the scent of that 20th title in our nostrils and after a series of tough fixtures, we now have “easier” matches (on the proverbial paper) over the next few weeks than City – it is a time where we really could put City under severe pressure and possibly even overtake them by the time we come to play them at their place at the end of April.

With five of the next eight games before we meet City being played at home (I believe City have the opposite schedule) this match represents the start of  a crucial period.

I’d expect Fergie to take no chances with his team selection today and it should be the strongest possible line-up and whilst West Brom come here full of confidence after their recent 5-1 mauling of Wolves, their 4-0 mauling of Sunderland and their 1-0 win against Chelsea, I still believe that we have more than enough to take the points here today and bring an end to their winning run.

As per Wednesday, it would be nice to think that we can actually keep a clean sheet here today and if that is the case then I think we can beat West Brom by a couple of goals.

The bet is going to be 2 points United -1.5 AH @ 2.05 with Bet365.

Fergie has already identified this one as a key match in the defence of our title – “win this one and we can win the title” is the message and with good reason: Tottenham have, at times this season, looked the best side in the league and have lost once at The Lane – the 5-1 drubbing against City right at the start of the season.

I do believe that Tottenham have the squad capable of winning the title but I suspect that their problem is a case of them not believing it – you have to go back a long, long way for the last time they won the League and they have almost become accustomed to being amongst the “also rans”.

Until recently, they were in with a shout of the title but just two wins in their last six matches has seem them drop off the pace and it now looks like their chance has gone. The manner of their defeat against Arsenal in their last match (losing 5-2 after taking an early 2-0 lead) did suggest that they have shot their bolt for another season.

However, today represents an opportunity for them to put a bit more daylight between themselves and fourth-placed Chelsea and make a massive step towards automatic Champions League qualification.

As for us, well, we’ve been grinding out the results of late but we haven’t looked particularly convincing and we’ll definitely need to step it up a gear this afternoon. Fortunately, I do believe that we have generally played better against the better opposition this season and this one could bring out the best in us once again.

We also have a very good record against Tottenham and whilst, especially in recent seasons, I have expected a tough, close game, we have often run out comfortable winners although it has to be said that three of our last four matches at White Hart Lane have finished as draws (we won the other 3-1).

I expect a good match this afternoon and matches between the top clubs this season have generally produced an unusual number of goals and this one could follow suit but it could go the other way – the three draws we have had against Tottenham at the Lane in recent years were low-scoring affairs.

This is an important game for both teams and even a point apiece will be looked upon as a point gained by both. We probably need the points more than Tottenham (three points for Spurs will do more for City’s title charge than their own) and so I do expect us to push that bit more in the closing minutes if a goal is required but I do suspect that this one could be another low scoring drawn game again.

The bet is 2 points UNDER 2.5 goals @ 1.8 with Bet365.

Well, this one turned out to be every bit as tough as I suspected it would be but the slightly frustrating thing is that we made it harder for ourselves by giving away possession needlessly far too often.

Of course, Norwich played their part in this with their tireless pressing which sometimes led to our players rushing passes but, on some occasions, there was no pressure on the ball and it was still given away.

Our goalscorers on the day were Scholes and Giggs and whilst it made a great story for Giggs to grab the last minute winner on his 900th appearance for Manchester United, it is still a little depressing for me just how much we still rely on these golden oldies.

Welbeck could have grabbed a goal or two with a little more luck and/or composure and Hernandez had a few scraps which he perhaps could have done more with but there were few clear cut chances for us.

In fact, it was Norwich who carved open some of the better chances and we had David De Gea to thank for keeping them out with a few very impressive saves.

I saw an interview with Giggs after the match and he spoke of “not knowing whether to stick or twist at 1-0″ but this goes back a bit to what I was saying after our match against Ajax. By all means stick with 1-0 when you score the goal after 85 minutes but we went 1-0 up in this one after just seven minutes (similar to how we did against Ajax) and, whilst I hate to disagree with the legend that is Ryan Giggs, I would suggest that trying to hold a 1-0 lead for 83 minutes is not the best plan because, as I said the other day, we simply cannot do it. We’re at our best when we’re attacking and this was proved when Norwich got their thoroughly deserved equaliser just six or so minutes from the final whistle.

At this stage, we were staring at two dropped points – points we simply could not afford to drop and so we had to throw the kitchen sink at it and so we did – this resulted in a string of chances for us and, eventually, Giggs’ last gasp winner. In fact, the last five minutes or so of this game was possibly our best five minutes in the game – much of the rest was Norwich’s on points.

Anyway, we got the three points and the day belonged to Ryan Giggs who celebrated his winner in a manner I haven’t seen from him for a long, long time. He described his emotions as relief and joy but it looked more like the venting of frustration to me.

Whether it was frustration at the eventual vanquishing of a stubborn opponent who refused to lie down or frustration at some of his own team-mates who still need him to bail them out of a mire of their own making, I wouldn’t like to say but it was a significant moment – just how significant we won’t know until the points are tallied up at the end of the season.

Apologies for the lateness of this post.

Norwich have been enjoying a great season in the Premier League so far and currently sit in eighth position and the possibility of getting even higher is not beyond them at this stage.

At home, in particular, they have proved extremely difficult to beat and have lost just three times at Carrow Road although two of those defeats occured when they played opponents higher in the table than they are (Arsenal and Tottenham) but they did hold Chelsea to a goalless draw a few weeks ago.

From our point of view it does seem to be the case that we need to take all three points here today though. With City winning yesterday, the gap now stands at five points and we need to get back within striking range on them.

Fergie has been able to rest a few of the big names recently and so expect a couple of changes, especially in the defensive positions after Fergie admitted that the defence he put out against Ajax was probably too young and inexperienced.

I’m running out of time here and so I’m going to cut this one short. I think we simply have to win here today and I think we will but I don’t think there will be a great number of goals in the game and we’ll pip Norwich 1-0 or 2-0.

The bet is 2 points Under 2.5 Goals @ 2.20 with BetVictor (the new name for Victor Chandler).

Manchester United v Liverpool. You would think that that in itself is enough to fill any number of column inches but certain journalists have seemed desperate to make more of this than I think is necessary.

Sometimes I wish certain journalists would understand that for the vast majority of football fans, football is an escape from the day-to-day crap. For the two hours or so that a football match lasts, nothing else in the world matters and I hope this is how it will be today.

This is all about us winning three points. It is all about us putting straight a little injustice that occurred when we met Liverpool at their place recently, played them off the park for large periods but still, somehow, ended up losing the match.

Hopefully, the players will have learned something from that game. Possession might well be nine tenths of the law but balls in the back of the net are what matters on a football pitch.

What we can count on is that no matter how much possession we have in this match, Liverpool are going to thrust forward whenever they get the ball and we’ll need to ensure that we make the very most of our possession this time round.

However, this has been something of a problem for us recently and we have had to rely on the penalty spot a little bit too much for my liking of late but having dropped a couple of points in our last game it is vital that we take maximum points now – especially at home.

Our injury list appears to be sorting itself out now so hopefully we can have a bit more luck on that score from now until the end of the season. As a result of this, there has been some speculation that Tom Cleverley could be in line for some sort of appearance this afternoon and that would be great if true.

Up front, I think Hernandez will be rewarded for his goal against Chelsea with a start here this afternoon. This season hasn’t been as spectacular as last season for the Little Pea but from here on in he can make himself the hero all over again – starting this afternoon.

Predicting these games is always difficult, Liverpool have shown time and again that they can have a trick up their sleeve when it comes to playing against us but their record at OT down the years isn’t great and I do fancy us to take the points this afternoon in what I think will be a fairly high-scoring game.

The bet is 3 points OVER 2.5 goals @ 1.95 with Bet365.

This game will be remembered for the stunning comeback from 3-0 by United but the biggest question on everyone’s lips was, “How the hell did we find ourselves 3-0 down in the first place?”

There wasn’t much to get too over-excited about in the first half. Welbeck appeared to be tripped for a possible penalty but replays showed that the challenge occurred outside the box and, from the referee’s angle, it could have even looked like the Chelsea player got the ball (I actually think Welbeck had nicked it away and it should have been a free-kick just outside the box).

Chelsea huffed and puffed but created little until a loose ball was picked up by Daniel Sturridge and, facing up to Evra, he tricked his way past and blasted the ball into the box. De Gea stuck out a leg and diverted it away from goal only to see it ricochet off Jonny Evans and into the net to give Chelsea a 1-0 lead they scarcely deserved.

At half-time, I had no doubts that we could score the necessary two goals to win this match and with the players out nice and early, it looked like they meant to get straight down to business and take the game to Chelsea from the off.

However, the second half got off to the worst possible start for us as Torres (who remains dodgy in front of goal) delivered a sublime cross straight onto Mata’s boot who volleyed it home spectacularly after less than thirty seconds of the restart.

At this stage, the hill we had to climb suddenly looked like a mountain if we were to get three points from this one but Chelsea weren’t done and a free kick which David Luiz headed towards goal was diverted wickedly off Ferdinand’s shoulder and past the wrong-footed De Gea to make it 3-0 with just five minutes of the second half gone.

As United fans, we are used to seeing comebacks from our team but 3-0 down at Stamford Bridge… well, I would like to know when a team last achieved this but it certainly isn’t in my memory banks.

We were thrown a lifeline less than ten minutes later though when Evra was tripped clumsily in the box for a penalty which Rooney put away with aplomb.

At this stage, Chelsea had received a warning and you’d expect them to shut up shop but, bizarrely, they continued to play an attacking game which made the rest of the second half a very open game and we were given yet another penalty some ten minutes after the first which Rooney again put away with ease.

To be fair, this one looked like a clear penalty at first glance but replays showed that Welbeck “bought it” but hey, desperate times call for desperate measures and I’m sure a certain Mr Drogba would have been proud of the way Welbeck just left his leg in and went over.

So, at 3-2 it was certainly game back on and there was, by this stage, a certain inevitability about what would happen next. Our tails were up and we were doing to Chelsea what I expected us to do from the start and it fell for Ryan Giggs to show every ounce of his mature years to keep a cool head and deliver a perfect cross into the box which Javier Hernandez headed home for 3-3 with at least five minutes plus added time to be played.

Could we pull off the comeback to top all comebacks?

Well, unfortunately, not this time and to be fair, Chelsea had a couple of decent efforts of their own in the closing minutes which required De Gea to pull off a couple of very good saves especially the one from Mata’s perfect free kick which was heading right into the top corner before De Gea used every inch of his six foot four frame and every bit of his agility to paw away at the last moment.

So, all in all, the players deserve every praise for not letting their heads drop at 3-0 and anyone who questioned whether or not we have the stomach for the fight at this stage of the season got their answer in emphatic style but there does remain a sense of bewilderment as to how we found ourselves 3-0 down in the first place.

For all the comeback heroics, this still feels like two points dropped as, just as with Liverpool in the FA Cup, I think we were the better team but we didn’t get the result we truly deserved.

However, quite apart from the fighting spirit on display, there were several other positives to take from this:-

De Gea’s performance: He still looks a bit dodgy on crosses and such but he showed that he is one hell of a shot-stopper. There was nothing he could do about any of Chelsea’s goals but he certainly prevented a couple of almost certain goals that a lesser keeper would have been picking out of his net.

Rooney’s penalties: Rooney has missed a few of late but showed remarkable courage to take not one but two penalties in this one and not only did he take them but he scored them convincingly with seemingly no sign of nerves or self-doubt. Petr Cech had no chance with either.

Carrick awesome (again): Michael Carrick has been back to his very best in recent matches and was once again instrumental in midfield without ever appearing to do anything particularly spectacular.

Valencia awesome too (again): I must admit that with Nani having such a great season last year and with our signing of Young in the summer who then went on to have a great pre-season and start to the season for us, I feared that Valencia could get edged out for much of this season but he has really shown his fighting spirit to rise to the challenge and I suspect that even if Fergie had a fully fit trio of Nani, Valencia and Young, Valencia would be his first choice right now.

He runs tirelessly, he gets forward, he tracks back, he always gives his full-back a nightmare and whilst his service has always been good, he’s now starting to add a decent shot to his repertoire. Arguably the best United player of the season so far for my money.

If there was something to moan about here then it was the fact that we had to rely on the penalty spot to get two of the goals (as we did against Stoke) and Hernandez’ goal aside, we didn’t really carve open any clear-cut chances. This was the problem against Liverpool the other week where, for all our possession, we ended up losing and it is a worry.

Rooney was deservedly man of the match here and put away his penalty kicks brilliantly but I think we’d all like to see him banging in a few more from open play now that he’s back from his little injury lay-off.