The title decider or, Playing with house money

The Manchester-Chelski match has just kicked off. Any points for Manchester means they control their destiny over the last six weeks of the season. A loss, however, means a gut-wrenching, edge-of-your-seat race to the finish.

Manchester are playing with house money, though -- they can lose and still have a chance to make up the points in the last month and a half. Chelski, on the other hand, must win. It is difficult to see Manchester dropping more than three points in the run up to the season's close should Chelsk allow United to go four points up.

The best result for United would be a win followed by a draw or loss by Arsenal to Wolves later today. The next-best scenario is a draw v Chelsk, with Arsenal dropping points. Anything short of a win means Arsenal are out of the race for sure. A loss isn't fatal to United but it would leave an unpleasant scenario: asking Liverpool to beat Chelski when those two meet up on the second-last weekend of the season.

While neutrals might plump for an exciting finish, there is more than a season’s title at stake. Manchester are chasing a historic fourth-in-a-row title -- no Premier League club has ever done that. In fact, no English first-division club has ever accomplished this feat.

There were two clubs besides United that have come close. Arsenal won four-in-five from 1931-35, during their first run of success, under Herbert Chapman. Of course Liverpool would be the other club. Stunningly in their record-setting 16-year span between 1975-1990, they won 10 titles. No club other than Pool won back-to-back titles in that span, but Pool never won more than three consecutively, which they only did once (1982-1984).

That's a run like the NY Yankees in their dominant pomp between 1949-64. Unlike the Yankees, however, Liverpool have never won the league again since. That title drought is now longer than their era of success.

So history is at stake and with Rooney out, United are underdogs. One final point in favor of United -- a loss by Chelsk could mean another bout of tears for Terry.

One can only hope.