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MANCHESTER UNITED fans will be desperate to see their team lead Liverpool to the Premier League title this season.
The Red Devils edged out their biggest rivals with a 1-0 win at Burnley on Tuesday night.
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He took Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s table top for the first time in 40 months, dating back to September 2017.
And this is the last point of the season in which United have been the best player in English football since Sir Alex Ferguson took them to the title in 2012-13, his last year at Old Trafford.
If the top two, who meet in the league and the FA Cup this month, finish the season in the same places with United first and Liverpool second, they would see an end identical to that of the 2008-09 campaign.
That season, Ferguson’s team claimed the title with 90 points thanks to 28 wins, six draws and four losses.
Rafael Benítez’s Liverpool was only four points behind, only lost twice but drew 11.
Two stalwarts played the vast majority of the season between the clubs.
Edwin van der Sar played 33 Premier Leagues that season, while Pepe Reina was one of seven players in the division in 3,420 minutes.
United’s title-winning defense relied on Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic’s center-back pairing with Patrice Evra on left-back and John O’Shea with more than just Gary Neville hating Scouser.
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Benitez had Jamie Carragher, Neville’s friend in heaven, as his number one center half, starting all 38 games.
He was accompanied by Martin Skrtel or Daniel Agger, with Sami Hyypia used sporadically, while Álvaro Arbeloa and Fabio Aurelio occupied the side positions.
There was a lot of star quality in midfield, especially at Anfield with Javier Mascherano, Xabi Alonso and Steven Gerrard playing over 2,300 minutes.
Lucas Leiva also had a strong turnout that season, playing a similar amount to Paul Scholes and Anderson at Old Trafford.
But it was Michael Carrick and Darren Fletcher who were Ferguson’s two favorites.
Ferguson used Cristiano Ronaldo (2,749 minutes) to the fullest, with Park Ji-Sung (1,728) beating Ryan Giggs (1,500) and Nani further behind (525).
Across the M62, Yossi Benayoun (1890) and Alberto Riera (1898) were used almost identically, although the Israeli made four more league appearances.
Only Reina and Carragher played more minutes than Dirk Kuyt for Liverpool in 2008-09, while Fernando Torres was the top No.9 with 14 goals.
Ryan Babel, Robbie Keane, and David N’Gog also featured significantly.
But the champion had a luxury of forwards with Dimitar Berbatov (2,542), Wayne Rooney (2,264) and Carlos Tevez (1,859) contributing 26 goals to add to the 18 of Ronaldo.
Chelsea, whose Nicolas Anelka won the Golden Boot, and Arsenal rounded out the top four with Everton, Aston Villa and Fulham claiming the Europa League places.
Tottenham finished eighth, tied on points with West Ham and one ahead of Manchester City when Newcastle, Middlesbrough and West Brom fell.
United, which currently holds the record for 20 top-flight English titles, one more than Liverpool, also won the League Cup and Club World Cup in the 2008-09 season, reached the FA Cup semi-finals and lost. against Barcelona in the final of the Champions League. .
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