London, Jan 31: Manchester United travel to Southampton tomorrow seeking to capitalise on an unexpected favour from arch-rivals Liverpool. A last-minute equaliser from Emile Heskey denied arsenal victory at Anfield on Wednesday, handing United the chance to close the gap on the gunners at the top of the table to three points if they win the game they now have in hand.

United know they will have a tough task to secure three points against a Southampton side that has been revitalised this season by the goals of James Beattie and the management of Old Trafford old boy Gordon Strachan. But things do seem to be falling into place for Alex Ferguson's men with an unprecedented quadruple of League, Cup, League Cup and European Cup titles still on the cards.

Skipper Roy Keane, however, sounded a characteristic note of caution.

"Things are going well, but we've been in the game long enough to know that things can change quickly. It was only two or three months ago that people were writing us off for a lot of things," he said. "Every game coming up now is a must-win situation. People are talking about the quadruple, but the players aren't daft enough to get carried away with anything like that. The manager makes sure that we keep our feet on the ground. We ended up last season with no trophies. Football can be cruel like that."

Beattie meanwhile is relishing the prospect of a crack at United after notching his 17th goal of the season against Sunderland in midweek.

Bureau Report