Torres admits Man Utd now in pole position

Fernando Torres has admitted that Manchester United’s demolition of Chelsea at the weekend has put them in pole position to claim a third consecutive Premier League title.

But the Liverpool striker remains confident that Sir Alex Ferguson’s side can be knocked off their perch and has billed the meeting between the two clubs at Old Trafford on March 14 as a potential title decider.

A 3-0 win over Chelsea on Sunday means United will displace Liverpool at the top of the table for the first time this season if they beat Wigan on Wednesday evening then take all three points from their trip to Bolton on Saturday.

“United are the champions right now, they are the favourites,” Torres told reporters at FIFA’s World Player of the Year award in Zurich on Monday evening.

“They have shown in the last few years that they’re a very strong side. Look at the great players they have, and they have played two matches fewer, so they could catch up and even go top.”

The win over a weary-looking Chelsea has seen bookmakers and pundits install United as odds-on favourites to retain their title in the belief that Ferguson’s side has come through the toughest part of the season.

The successful trip to Japan for the World Club championship did not result in any dropped points on the squad’s return to domestic action and United have already played all their away matches against other members of England’s current Champions League quartet.

“We all know what Manchester United are about,” Torres added. “They are champions of England, Europe, the world.

“We do respect them as a team. They have class, they have classy players, we are struggling to keep up with them and stay ahead of them. So, they have quality. But we have options and know the chances we have. I think United have their chances as do Liverpool and Chelsea.

“We have to fight until the end and see what happens. Old Trafford is waiting and hopefully we can make it on an equal footing and try to benefit from a place not always advantageous to us.”

Liverpool’s determination to wrest the Premier League trophy away from their great rivals was underlined last week by their manager, Rafael Benitez, ferocious verbal onslaught on Ferguson.

One of Benitez’s key claims — that United had been unsettled by the re-emergence of Liverpool as serious title contenders — was undermined somewhat by his side’s lacklustre display in Saturday’s goalless draw at Stoke.

Torres, who did not start that match, admitted Liverpool could not afford too many more slip-ups.

“The league is extremely important for Liverpool and the people of the city — it’s been 19 years (since the last title) , so is possibly more important than the Champions League. We would certainly like to give back this title.”

Benitez meanwhile has predicted that it will take fewer points to win the title than has been the case in the last five seasons because the top flight has become more competitive.

“You can clearly see that there is not much of a points difference between a lot of teams,” Benitez said. “That means everyone can beat everyone.

“It could be that it takes fewer points to win the title because you can lose games you expect to win.”

United won last season’s title with 87 points and Chelsea amassed a remarkable 95 points in 2004-05, Jose Mourinho’s first season in charge.

Having played 19 matches (exactly half their total fixtures) so far this season, United have claim 41 points so Ferguson’s side will have to improve significantly in the run-in if they are to approach last season’s haul and disprove Benitez’s theory.