United Cruise to Five-Point Advantage

Manchester United used their game in hand against Fulham on Wednesday night to go five points clear at the top of the Barclays Premier League.

Edwin Van Der Sar kept his 13th straight Premier League clean sheet, having been threatened a few times against the Cottagers. He saw two or three chances go just wide of his net, and other than those close on goal attempts by Fulham, the Dutchman had little to do.

Fulham have yet to win on the road, and had little chance of winning this one, which doesn't necessarily represent the progress they've made from a bottom-dwelling team last year.

United with a five-point lead, and an apparent knack for keeping opponents out of their goal, could be eight points ahead should they win on Saturday at home against 18th-placed Blackburn Rovers.

Liverpool don't host Manchester City until Sunday, and could theoretically be tied in points with Aston Villa should Chelsea fail to get a result at Villa Park on Saturday.

Sam Allardyce has been able to get results at Old Trafford, but it would take nothing short of a miracle to beat United at home given their current form.

Van Der Sar seems to be unbeatable, though a very questionable no-call against Nemanja Vidic for a suspected hand ball in the second half could have easily resulted in a penalty for Fulham. He is just over 3/4 of a game away from setting the European Club record for minutes without allowing a goal.

Should United go eight points clear on Saturday, a tremendous amount of pressure will be levied on the shoulders of Liverpool. Should they fail to get the three points, a seven or eight point deficit with just 11 games to go would be extremely difficult to make up.

Should Liverpool claim the three points on Sunday, they will have an opportunity the following weekend to cut the deficit to two points, due to the fact that United will miss the EPL weekend due to their Carling Cup Final with Tottenham.

If Liverpool do cut the lead to two points in just over a week's time, the pressure could be back on United the following weekend, even though the Red Devils will have a game in hand.

I don't want to get too far ahead of myself. The fixtures for both teams are coming fast and furious now as the Champions League gets underway next Tuesday, and United will have to deal with a trip to the San Siro to face Jose Mourinho's Internazionale.

One thing is for sure, United made the 3-0 win over Fulham looked pedestrian, and I would expect a similar result on Saturday when they face a Blackburn team in desperate need of a victory.