Would Man Utd fans rather Liverpool won the title... or a Man City quadruple?

1/3

Tom Doyle21 March 2019

It is safe to say that the only thing that hurts a Manchester United fan more than being out of a Premier League title race, is seeing Liverpool and Manchester City in one.

With Tottenham's slump in form now leaving the title to be won by either one of United's fierce north-west rivals, Red Devils supporters are caught between a rock and a hard place.

Sir Alex Ferguson famously referred to Man City as United's "noisy neighbours", but many fans who call Old Trafford home are now hoping that the city will turn blue on May 12 - if only to keep Liverpool at bay.

City winning the title would be the lesser of two evils for plenty of United fans, with Liverpool on the cusp of ending their near-29-year wait for a league title.

Ferguson's United eventually knocked Liverpool off their perch as the most successful English team in terms of top-flight titles, and currently sit two above Liverpool in the all-time standings.

Alex Livesey/Getty Images

Liverpool's long wait for a title could well end this year as they lead the table with seven games to go, but Pep Guardiola's City can leapfrog Jurgen Klopp's men back into top spot if they win their game in hand.

But, as ever, there is another catch for United fans. City have already won the EFL Cup, and are favourites to land the FA Cup as well with a semi-final against Brighton followed by a final against either Wolves or Watford to follow.

With City also through to the Champions League quarter-finals against Tottenham, United fans face the daunting prospect of seeing either Liverpool end their long wait for a title, or watch City better their best-ever season.

No English team has ever won the quadruple before, with United's 1998/99 treble-winning season standing out as arguably the most impressive campaign of any English side in the modern era - though Arsenal fans would no doubt argue that their unbeaten 'Invincibles' campaign of 2003/04 trumps the treble.

So, there's the rub for United fans - look on as Liverpool lift the title at Anfield on May 12 as they aim to knock the Red Devils off their very own perch, or watch as City put the treble season in the shade and potentially win it all?

Of course, the obvious answer would be for United to beat Barcelona, go all the way in the Champions League and for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to recreate his famous Camp Nou knee-slide of 20 years ago... but that would require them to somehow stop Lionel Messi.