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Halfway home Arsenal, Leicester among sides gunning for Man Utd
LONDON (AP) -- The English Premier League season is halfway over and one thing's clear: Manchester United's reserve team looks better than the regulars from Arsenal or any of the other contenders. Saturday was a perfect example. United got its only two goals from reserve striker Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in beating Ipswich 2-0 at Old Trafford. United was without its three top strikers -- Dwight Yorke, Andy Cole and Teddy Sheringham -- and it will be again on Boxing Day against Aston Villa. Yorke is suspended, Sheringham is out with a hamstring injury and Cole has an Achilles problem. "I've had my fair share of niggly injuries this year and now that the other three strikers are out, I'm the only one of the three senior strikers left," the Norwegian international said. "I always want to start games and I hope this will give me a bit of help from now on. At least the confidence is growing anyway." For many, Man United's eight-point lead over Arsenal and Leicester -- and 10-point bulge on Liverpool and Ipswich -- looks insurmountable. United Manager Alex Ferguson may think so, too, but he'd never say it on the record. "This is an important part of the season, but it's not the most important part," he said. "The most important part is March and April." Arsenal can only hope to reach spring in one piece after the Gunners were demolished 4-0 at Anfield on Saturday by a Liverpool side full of goalscorers. Arsenal just can't find the net and its once stout defense has turned soft. "It [goal scoring] has been our problem all season. We so very rarely score two in a match, and that makes life very difficult," manager Arsene Wenger said. "Against Liverpool we gave away two goals with poor positioning from our defenders and when we went two behind we never looked like coming back into the game." The Gunners play host to third-place Leicester on Boxing Day at Highbury, where the Foxes have won only five league games in their history. If anyone can catch Manchester United in the second half it may be Liverpool, which beat the defending champions a week ago 1-0 and then rolled over Arsenal. Unlike Arsenal, Liverpool has scorers -- maybe, one too many. In Saturday's thrashing of Arsenal, Steve Gerrard, Michael Owen, Nicky Barmby and Robbie Fowler cashed in, but the main man was powerful, bull-like striker Emile Heskey, who was always around the ball and set up several goals. Fowler, who scored in the final seconds after coming off the bench, has been sidelined by manager Gerard Houllier and is considering a move, with Chelsea most often mentioned. Houllier pointed several remarks directly at individualistic Fowler after the Arsenal mauling. "We won. He scored, unless he's not a team player, why wouldn't he be happy?" Houllier asked as Liverpool heads to Middlesbrough on Tuesday. "I'm pleased that he scored, but he needs matches and time still to regain his sharpness," he added. "Everyone knows that when he is at his peak there is none better. But this was a team victory; I don't want it to become all about a single player." There's no doubt about the surprise team of the first half. It's newly promoted Ipswich, which is contending for a place in Europe with a low-pay, no-name side that's calling itself the "Tractor Boys." "So far the boys have done magnificently when you look we've 33 points already and we've won six away games," manager George Burley said as his club prepares for Cheslea on Tuesday. "We're also in the semifinals of the Worthington [League] Cup and they can't give us anymore. ... "We've done well so far, but we've got to keep on working at things." Man Utd stars to stay, Ferguson forecastsLONDON -- Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson is predicting his top stars will all sign new contracts next year, keeping them at Old Trafford for the foreseeable future. Big names like David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Andy Cole, Dwight Yorke and Jaap Stam are all up for new deals by the end of the season. Ferguson told the News of the World on Sunday: "I would put my life on them staying -- as long as we look after them. "Nothing is certain in life but I don't think they want to leave Manchester United."
Reuters contributed to this report.
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