It seems like forever ago now, but only a little over two months ago, Manchester United held a 15-point lead over Chelsea in the Premier League table.

Mathematically, Arsenal were United’s closest competition at the time, but even though they were fresh off of the most horrendous run of form in the Roman Abramovich era, many in these parts and elsewhere considered only Chelsea as a threat to United’s title hopes.

Looks like we were right, huh? Coming into tomorrow’s Manchester United-Chelsea at Old Trafford, Chelsea are well and truly nipping at United’s heels, only three points behind and level on goal difference with only three matches remaining. This latest clash of English titans is being pointed as ‘the’ title decider, and if red can trump blue for the third time in a month, United will be within a solitary point (or a Chelsea draw or defeat in either one of their last two matches) of reclaiming Premier League supremacy.

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See, all of that nervousness was for naught.

With two away goals in the bag and the massive Manchester United-Chelsea showdown looming on Sunday, it was no surprise that Fergie chose to field a less than full strength starting lineup for the second leg of United’s Champions League semifinal with Schalke.

Unsurprising as the decision was, or at least should’ve been, it still generated some nerves and doubt among many, with Dimitar Berbatov, recently relegated to a bit-part role, as the lone striker, and Jonny Evans, Darron Gibson, and Anderson all having received their share of criticism and at one time or another this season.

Were United overlooking and underestimating their opponents, with a bigger fish to fry come Sunday? Could Schalke take advantage of a weakened and perhaps less inspired United team and pull off a stunner like their quarterfinal win at the San Siro against Inter?

If there’s anything that this season has taught us, it’s to expect the unexpected, and the unexpected did indeed happen, but it wasn’t the above, as a couple of unlikely heroes stepped up and delivered in United’s decisive 4-1 win on Wednesday night.

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Last Sunday’s visit to Arsenal didn’t turn out as hoped, but as ill-timed and disappointing of a defeat the 1-0 reverse at the Emirates was, it’s not remotely the end of the world for Manchester United, especially with two doses of home cooking in what amounts to the most important week of the season to date.

A positive result against Arsenal would have allowed United to clinch the Premier League title with a home win over Chelsea on Sunday, and Sir Alex Ferguson put out a side more than capable of getting a draw or a win against a previously struggling Arsenal side, but we allowed the hosts to take advantage of a golden goalscoring opportunity, and we didn’t do the same on our end. As a result, United fell to defeat for only the fourth time this season and were blanked for only the fifth time this season.

Considering that the defeat, combined with Chelsea’s controversial 2-1 win over Tottenham on Saturday, allowed Carlo Ancelotti’s side to close within three points of United ahead of their visit to Old Trafford, many might already be looking ahead to Sunday’s clash of the titans and playing out scenario after scenario.

However, the task there is a simple one: win, and the title is one point away, but as important as that match is to United’s ambitions, there’s business to be taken care of before then, with United 90 minutes away from a place in the Champions League final at Wembley.

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Arsenal

Starting Lineup: Wojciech Szczesny; Gael Clichy, Laurent Koscielny, Johan Djourou, Bacary Sagna; Samir Nasri, Jack Wilshere, Alex Song, Theo Walcott; Robin Van Persie, Aaron Ramsey

Subs: Jens Lehmann, Kieran Gibbs, Sebastien Squillaci, Emmanuel Eboue, Andrei Arshavin, Nicklas Bendtner, Marouane Chamakh

Manchester United

Starting Lineup: Edwin Van der Sar; Fabio da Silva, Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand, Patrice Evra; Nani, Anderson, Michael Carrick, Park Ji-Sung; Wayne Rooney, Javier Hernandez

Subs: Tomasz Kuszczak, John O’Shea, Rafael da Silva, Chris Smalling, Antonio Valencia, Dimitar Berbatov, Michael Owen

Prediction: Arsenal 1-2 Manchester United