You Bet

There can be little doubt now that the English Premier League is established as the best in Europe, after the big four moved en masse into the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the second successive year. Spain has improved by getting two teams into the last eight, and German champions Bayern Munich are the only other representative from one of the top five European leagues.

If we accept that the Premier League is pre-eminent, it follows that Manchester United are the best side in Europe as they hold a seven-point lead domestically with a game in hand. Barcelona would argue with that but, despite beating Premier League side Arsenal in the 2006 final, they have been knocked out by a team from England in their other three Champions League campaigns since 2004/05. The betting market makes the Spanish leaders narrow favourites for the Champions League, so the best way to settle it might be a United v Barcelona final in Rome on May 27.

For now, there are domestic matters to deal with and United go straight into another major battle tonight at home to Liverpool. Rafa Benitez admits it will be almost impossible for his team to catch United unless they win tonight, while a United victory would take them a giant step closer to a title hat-trick.

Having played the majority of their most difficult away fixtures in the first half of the season, United have little to fear on their travels from now on and their remaining tricky games are all at Old Trafford - after Liverpool, they will also host Aston Villa, Everton and Arsenal.

For the other teams near the top of the table, home fixtures of that difficulty might pose problems, but not for United. A big part of their advantage over the chasing group is that they have been effective both at home and away, while their rivals have dropped vital points at home.

United's seven-point lead over Liverpool is replicated exactly in the two teams' home form, with United having accumulated 37 points from 13 home games and Liverpool 30 despite having played one more home game. Chelsea, meanwhile, have taken 26 points from 14 home games - 11 fewer than United from one more game.