Manchester United: 5 Reasons Why They Will Be Champions Again This Season

Many fans and experts alike still regard Manchester City as strong favourites for the Premier League title, but make no mistake, United are the team to fear.

With City's record-breaking 6-1 win at Old Trafford still very fresh in people's minds, combined with the stunning form of Spurs, it seems Sir Alex has a lot to worry about.

But...

There have been plenty of signs in recent weeks why that 20th title will be heading to the red side of Manchester yet again.

Here are five reasons why.

Recent Form

Nine wins and a draw since City ran riot at Old Trafford has shown that there is plenty of fight left in Sir Alex's men going into a busy 2012.

Goals are also coming more freely with back-to-back 5-0 wins at Fulham and home to Wigan. With the visit of Blackburn on New Year's Eve, don't bet against another glut of goals. In fact, United don't play a team in the top four until February.

In contrast, Manchester City have lost their unbeaten tag after losing at Chelsea earlier this month and were lucky to escape with a 0-0 draw at West Brom on Monday.

They play face a tricky trip to Sunderland followed by games with Liverpool and Spurs. Combine that with a two-legged Carling Cup tie with Liverpool and an FA Cup derby with United all in the month of January, and you have plenty to worry about. 

Player Availablilty

United have definitely had the worse of the injuries so far this season resulting in plenty of different team sheets and formations. 

With Nemanja Vidic ruled out for the season and Darren Fletcher taking an indefinite break from football, together with constant fitness struggles of Rio Ferdinand, Ashley Young, Michael Owen and Fabio Da Silva, to mention but a few, it is a wonder how United have kept pace with a virtually injury-free City for this long.

But things are starting to look a lot better for Sir Alex. The versatility of Phil Jones and Chris Smalling have been a huge plus and both return for the Blackburn game. They could also be joined by Tom Cleverley, who has been restricted to just one appearance in three months, and Ferdinand, who looks to have overcome a back problem.

City, on the other hand, have struggled without Micah Richards at the back, while Aleksander Kolarov is out for another two weeks.

Ya Ya Toure has been an unsung hero this season but will leave the squad for up to six weeks from mid-January to travel to the African Cup of Nations along with his brother Kolo. Both could miss up to seven games. 

Managerial Experience

Quite simply, United have been there and done it!

In fact they've done in it 19 times before where as City have only been crowned champions twice, the last coming in 1967-8.

Sir Alex has won the Premier League an incredible 12 times with United and has been at the helm for 25 years. He has 37 trophies during his time and is showing no signs of retiring anytime soon.

Roberto Manchini is clearly an exciting managerial prospect but is definitely still learning his trade. With an endless bank balance and huge squad, he has only been able to deliver an FA Cup win in three seasons. They are already out of the Champions League, and there will certainly be a lot of pressure on the Italian to deliver the title sooner rather than later.

Strikers

Goals are coming at the right time for United. 

And unlike City, they are coming from everywhere.

Nani, Michael Carrick, Ryan Giggs and Phil Jones have all scored in recent weeks, but it's the strikers that will be pleasing Sir Alex the most.

Wayne Rooney has found his scoring touch again after a quiet few games in midfield following a sensational start to the season.

Danny Welbeck and Javier Hernandez are both fighting to partner Rooney and continue to impress together with the forgotten Dimitar Berbatov who scored a stunning hat-trick against Wigan following up a sublime back-heel finish at Fulham four days earlier.

City have problems though, with only Sergio Aguero being anything like consistent. Mario Balotelli is without doubt a talent but an inconsistent one at the moment. He hasn't scored in his last three while Edin Dzeko's last goal came back on Nov. 5.

Teamwork

In the face of adversity, United have come out and proved to the doubters that they are still the team to beat. 

They look to be playing pressure-free, with smiles on their faces almost enjoying not being favourites for the title.

There have been no issues off the field, no newspaper headlines, and with Sir Alex highly unlikely to buy during the January window, the players know their roles and clearly appreciate the trust that is being given to them.

A happy team is a winning team.

Contrast that to the rotation at City. Keeping talented players happy is a difficult prospect in any team, but Roberto Manchini has it tougher than most.

Samir Nasri, Edin Dzeko and Adam Johnson are just three of the players who appear to be getting frustrated with the lack of recent opportunity. Wayne Bridge let his frustrations be known to the press last week, while Mario Balotelli continues to hit the headlines for being the lovable rogue.

Add this to the constant Carlos Tevez saga and the likelihood of more signings in January, and there seems to be plenty of distractions for City to overcome if they are to claim the title. 

Taking everything into consideration, United will be the ones celebrating come May 13.