The initiative is very much with Manchester United in the Premier League title race and they can open up a three point gap at the top on Monday night with a routine success
The Red Devils host Fulham at Old Trafford and, having seen rivals Manchester City held at Stoke on Saturday, will be eager to gain the upper hand.
Negotiating a tricky set of fixtures without defeat culminating in a 3-1 triumph at White Hart Lane, routine wins over West Brom and Wolves have followed and United have dropped just two points since mid-January.
That draw, a 3-3 at Stamford Bridge having trailed by three goals to Chelsea, indicated their desire for success remained as strong as ever and a wonderful run-in, with matches against the majority of the bottom half, should see another English championship bagged by manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
Ferguson will have been delighted to see Roberto Mancini refuse to speak to the media followed City’s stalemate at the Britannia, the pressure is clearly getting to the Italian, and Fergie will be demanding a fast start from his team on Monday night.
While United’s European form at home this term has been miles below their best, losing to both Ajax and Athletic Bilbao most recently, in the Premier League they have flourished once again and it now seems like a long time since City stunned their hosts with that 6-1 win in October.
Fulham arrive in the north-west with little left to play for this term, safe from relegation but off the pace in the battle for a European spot, and back-to-back defeats indicate they might just be looking forward to the end of the season already.
Their away record, just eight goals scored in 14 matches which have yielded only 11 points, remains as dire as in previous campaigns and anything but a comfortable home success would surprise.
United, naturally, are no interest in the match odds market at around the 1.25 mark but giving up a 1.5 goal head start on the Asian handicap appeals against a side which are predicted to pose little threat offensively.
An early goal would set United on their way and they might just have their eye on erasing the goal difference between themselves and City, too, which currently stands at four in the Citizens favour.
2pts Back Man Utd (vs. Fulham, -1.5) @ 1.71 (188Bet)