Manchester United is hoping that Liverpool will shrug off the disappointment of failing to reach the Europa League final and keep the Premier League title race wide open by beating Chelsea on Sunday.
United, a point behind Chelsea at the top of the standings, needs to win its own game at Sunderland and rely on seventh-place Liverpool doing it a favor at Anfield.
Although Liverpool lost out to Atletico Madrid for a place in the Europa League final on Thursday, United manager Alex Ferguson said he was convinced his team's traditional northwest rival would play at its best against Chelsea.
"I am confident they will do their maximum," Ferguson said Friday. "Great clubs don't throw their history and traditions away for one game.
"They have been in 11 European finals. They have won 18 titles. That is a fantastic history. You don't throw that away. The fans know that too. Do you think the fans want to go home saying their players capitulated and they didn't try and thinking it wouldn't happen again?"
With no title to go for, Liverpool only has an outside chance of finishing fourth in the Premier League which would mean a Champions League spot next season.
Another Man United league title - an unprecedented fourth in a row - would mean breaking the record it currently shares with Liverpool of 18. It's something no Liverpool fan would want to see, and that many of the club's followers won't be unhappy if their team loses at home to Chelsea on Saturday.
Sunderland is managed by former United defender Steve Bruce and some Chelsea fans fear that the Black Cats will take it easy at home to Ferguson's team on Sunday.
However, Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti is convinced there will be no skullduggery.
"I think that Sunderland will do the best to beat Manchester United and Liverpool will do the same to beat us because I think every team has respect of the Premier League and to do the best until the end of the matches," he said Friday.
"It is very difficult to win at Anfield and we have to try because we need to have three more points."
John Terry returns to the Chelsea defense after missing Sunday's 7-0 victory over Stoke through suspension while Ferguson said he hoped Wayne Rooney would recover sooner than expected from a groin injury to face Sunderland.
While Chelsea can win the title Sunday with a victory at Liverpool and a United loss at Sunderland, the contest for fourth place will go to the final day.
Fourth place Tottenham and Aston Villa are level on points with Manchester City a point behind in fifth and Liverpool with two points to make up.
But Tottenham, which hosts Bolton, and Man City, which welcomes Villa, have a game in hand on their two rivals. To make it even more interesting, Man City and Tottenham face each other on Wednesday.
Down at the foot of the standings, Portsmouth and Burnley are already sure to go down and Hull is almost certain to join them.
Six points behind 17th place West Ham with a far inferior goal difference, Hull could even go down before it faces Wigan on Monday because the Hammers visits Fulham the day before and need only a draw to guarantee survival.
