Steven Gerrard celebrates his third goal against Aston Villa

A fortnight ago Manchester United’s position at the top of the Premier League seemed unassailable 攻不破的.

Now they are just one point ahead of Liverpool after losing their last two games.

And while Manchester United are asking themselves what has happened to their season, Liverpool are enjoying a spell of unbridled success 大勝/狂勝.

Liverpool have been on fire 勢頭強大的 of late, scoring 13 goals in their last three games, culminating 達到高峰 in the 5-0 pasting 擊敗 handed to Aston Villa on Sunday.

It seems that the Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez can afford a little understatement 保守的說法 given the form his team is in.

"We were scoring goals but didn’t play particularly well," said Benitez, describing Sunday’s 5-0 victory.

"Someone asked me why I was not smiling during the game," Benitez continued, "it was because I wanted more goals."

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard, who scored his first Premiership hat-trick 帽子戲法/一人進三球 in the Aston Villa game, was eager to get his third goal in case his manager decided to take him off.

"You always worry if you’ll get the chance to complete the hat-trick when Rafa’s in charge," said Gerrard.

"He might take you off when you’re on two just to keep your feet on the ground," Gerrard added, meaning the manager wants to stop his players from becoming big-headed 自大的.

Benitez seemed to be keeping his feet on the ground when he summed up Liverpool’s hopes of overtaking 超越 Manchester United and winning the league for the first time since 1990.

"If United do make mistakes, we must be ready, and that means carrying on doing what we are doing and winning points," Benitez said.

And making mistakes is exactly what Manchester United have been doing.

Two United players were sent off 被罰下場 during Saturday’s game against Fulham which Manchester United lost 2-0, and three key players 關鍵球員 are suspended 停賽 for their next league game.

But United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is not throwing in the towel 放棄 just yet.

"If you lose games in March and April it can cost you. Fortunately we have a slender lead 微弱領先 at the moment but not a lot and I'm hoping we come back from the internationals back to our best," said Sir Alex.