Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville has ruled out the possibility of Liverpool winning the title this campaign. However, he has stated that Brendan Rodgers’ team are capable of challenging for the top four places, which is something that they have not done since 2009. Neville is currently working as a pundit for Sky Sports and he has been known for his nonbiased opinions. He has said that one of the major reasons behind Liverpool’s good form this campaign has been their lack of European football.

Liverpool have not qualified for the Champions League in the last four years, but they are also without the Europa league this campaign. This has allowed them to prepare for matches extremely well, while the form of Daniel Sturridge and Luiz Suarez has also been impressive. The duo have been regarded as the best partnership Liverpool have had since Rush and Kenny Dalglish.

Due to the lack of midweek matches, Neville things that Liverpool will be able to challenge for a top four spot. He says that this is the natural progression of the team, who have been finishing in the eighth and seventh places for the last few seasons.

“Liverpool are certainly top-four contenders, but I don’t think they’ll win the title – I don’t think they’ll be able to progress that much this season but I think they’ve got a fantastic chance of getting towards that top four. If you think about where they were last year and the fact that they struggled to compete for a Champions League space that would be progression for Liverpool this season,” said Neville in his column on Sky Sports.

It is difficult to win the title from that position according to Neville. Liverpool are second in the table going into the weekend’s Premier league matches.

Manchester United travelled to the White Hart Lane to play against Tottenham Hotspur at the beginning of December and even though the match was played already over 1 week ago, Andre Villas-Boas considers the final result to be unfair.

Both Tottenham and Manchester United have been under pressure after not making the start of the season that it was expected for them to make and now they have to make it up and not drop any further points.

Kyle Walker opened up a scoreboard at the 18^th minute and Rooney equalized it some moments later but Tottenham got back in the lead in the early stages of the 2^nd half but United managed to find the back of the net once more with Rooney taking a penalty kick after Danny Welbeck was brought down inside the penalty box but according to Andre Villas-Boas, he dived in order to get the set-piece.

Villas-Boas said: “It’s difficult, because Hugo doesn’t raise his hands – the ball is going to the side.

“Vlad Chiriches is also avoiding contact with the player and we have seen a couple of players have stood their leg out to collide with bodies of the other players.

“So I think it’s difficult. It’s a decision we have to accept.I think the referee wasn’t in a good position to decide the penalty. He sees it from too far off’’.

“When you stick a leg out, put the ball forward, you can easily collide with the opponent’s body so I think it’s a difficult call for the ref but an unfair decision.”

The penalty strike from Wayne Rooney allowed Manchester United to rescue 1 point which certainly is not the result David Moyes initially wanted but it’s much better than facing a defeat against Tottenham in their home-turf at White Hart Lane.

Danny Welbeck sustained a knee injury some weeks ago which has kept him in the sidelines with nothing else to do than sit and wait for the recovery to be completed. The process is getting better and better as he has now trained with the senior squad and was only inches away from being called up in Manchester United’s encounter against Fullham.

When asked to David Moyes about the condition of some of his players he said:

“Danny Welbeck has had a bit of fluid on his knee.

“He has trained a few days this week and he is certainly getting much closer to match fitness but he will not travel this weekend.”

Manchester United are also missing their star defender Nemanja Vidic who was absent in the Champions League encounter against Real Sociedad but the English club still came out on top with a narrow 1-0 victory.

With only 1 point separating them from the 2^nd place Bayer Leverkusen they will need everyone at their disposal to secure the advancement into the next round of the Champions League, including Danny Welbeck.

The young English attacker has been under-fire for quite some time now being overshadowed and left behind by the likes of: Wayne Rooney, Van Persie and the rising up comer Adnan Januzaj who has high expectations following his sensational debut, it’s going to be a hard road ahead of him if he wants to book a permanent place in Manchester United’s starting XI lineup.

Just how he has snatched his place in England’s XI lineup alongside Rooney and Sturridge he needs to do it once more but this time with Manchester United.

Even though he played a majority of the matches for Manchester United last season, Danny Welbeck had a personal disappointing season in front of goal because he scored only two goals through the entire campaign. Everton looked extremely disappointing in the first pre-season match under the new era of David Moyes. They lost 1-0 against Thailand in the friendly match, but Moyes is confident that they can hit the goal scoring from that has been a trademark of Manchester United over the years. He has also expressed his confidence about Welbeck becoming regular goalscorer for United in the future.

There has been a lot of talk surrounding the future of Wayne Rooney at the club. The 27-year-old England international is widely expected to leave the club before the end of the transfer window. United have not been linked with any strikers at the moment. This could force Welbeck into being the second or third choice striker at the club behind Robin van Persie. There has also been speculation about the future of Javier Hernandez as well. Despite the poor performance last season, Moyes is hoping that the youngster will be able to hit a goalscoring form.

Moyes is of the opinion that as striker works hard regularly, he will be able to get more confidence.

“When I arrived I was told how important Danny had been and how important he will be. We’re giving him an opportunity now and he has the chance to get games. We’re hoping his goals come as well. He had a couple of chances the other night. But it would be worse if he wasn’t getting chances. Hopefully he’ll start taking a few of those chances and that will give him the confidence he needs to go on a run and score plenty of goals,” said Moyes.

The nomination of Manchester United striker Danny Welbeck into the PFA awards this season has expressed many because the striker has scored just one goal this season. However, manager Sir Alex Ferguson has said that he is not worried about the lack of goals from the youth academy star, who has managed to start ahead of star striker Wayne Rooney in several matches this season. Ferguson has acknowledged the huge drop in goals for the striker. He pointed to the fact that he managed to find the back of the net on 12 occasions last season.

Compared to it, the return of just two goals this season is a huge drop. However, he has been contributing to the team in other areas of the pitch that Ferguson is willing to overlook this fact. He is confident that Welbeck will become a regular goalscorer for United in the future. Unlike in previous seasons, Welbeck has been used in a number of positions this term by Ferguson. This could have also contributed to the lack of goals from the former Sunderland loan star according to Ferguson.

Welbeck was effectively used to reduce the threat of Alonso in the Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid. The 22-year-old is not expected to win any PFA awards this season.

“Last year he had 12 goals, this year he’s only got two, so that’s a big drop. But that drop doesn’t concern us because he still applies himself really well and still looks to score, still looks to get a chance and with that kind of courage he will eventually become a regular goalscorer. Maybe he doesn’t appreciate us moving him around in various positions and we’ve maybe overused that because he is young,” said Ferguson, who also praised the importance of Welbeck to the United squad.

The Manchester United striker Danny Welbeck has said that the club will not become too complacent as a result of having a six-point advantage over the other clubs in the table. Instead, they are extremely keen on winning the title this season and will work hard towards achieving the same. After the recent 3-2 win over Manchester City during the weekend, the club opened a six-point advantage over their nearest rivals City. Due to the fact that Chelsea almost out of contention due to the 10 point difference, United are now the overwhelming favourites to lift the Premier League title this season.

United have the opportunity to extend the lead even more when they take on Sunderland this weekend, while City will be against Newcastle in a tough match. Despite this significant advantage, Welbeck has stressed the importance of continuing to pick up points in order to stay ahead of their rivals. He has also pointed out to the number of matches that come during the Christmas period as an important stage in the season. Teams can often lose a lot of points within a matter of a few weeks during this period. Hence, it is important to not be complacent about the advantage they have on the table according to Welbeck.

“Games come thick and fast and it’s important if you’re picking up the pace over Christmas. It’s a vital period and a time all the boys look forward to. It was satisfying to win last weekend. To go six points clear and to do it in a Manchester derby was a great boost for us. We won’t be too complacent, though. Every single point counts. There are so many games and if you can get momentum you can take that into the new year,” said Welbeck after the City win.