Firepower: Frank Lampard has outscored six of his United rivals this season
There is little to choose between Chelsea and Manchester United this season. But if Carlo Ancelotti's men hold on to their slender lead and become champions - as I think they will - the difference will be their extra firepower.
Whereas Manchester United rely heavily on Wayne Rooney for goals, Chelsea can look to other players besides their main man Didier Drogba to score.
Florent Malouda, Nicolas Anelka. Salomon Kalou and Michael Ballack have all chipped in, and the phenomenal Frank Lampard is like having an extra striker in your team.
Lampard is incredible, a brilliant footballer.
He scores 20 goals a season from midfield, something United have lacked this season with Cristiano Ronaldo gone and Paul Scholes now 35.
The statistics show Lampard's 20 Premier League goals are more than Antonio Valencia, Ryan Giggs, Scholes, Michael Carrick, Nani and Darren Fletcher put together.
He also has more assists than anyone else, so if Ancelotti wins the title at his first attempt, he will know who to thank.
Of course, United could still win it and, if they do, Chelsea will have to take a long, hard look at themselves because they should have wrapped it up by now.
But personally, I think Chelsea will get the win they require at Liverpool this afternoon that will leave them only needing to beat Wigan at Stamford Bridge a week today to clinch the title.
I don't go along with the conspiracy theorists who say the Liverpool players will roll over to stop United overtaking their record of 18 championships.
But I can see them being demoralised enough by their shocking season, summed up by Thursday's Europa League exit against Atletico Madrid, to fail against a Chelsea team who have every incentive to go for it at Anfield.
The most interesting thing about the game will be the attitude of Liverpool fans. I imagine they will be split; they don't want United to win the League and some of them won't be distraught to see their team lose.
But that attitude won't spill onto the pitch. I've never seen players not try. I can't see it happening.
I don't want to be a messenger of doom but we might be seeing the end of Liverpool as we know them – one of Europe's biggest clubs.
They need to buy players because they are effectively a two-man team but the club's debts won't allow them to until new owners arrive.
Against the backdrop, I can't see them stopping Chelsea - at least that will stop the fans from suffering a double-whammy of a failed season and seeing United win the league.
Both Chelsea and United have shown frailties this season, which is why it has been a brilliant season in terms of excitement and unpredictability.
In that way, you wouldn't be completely shocked if there was a final sting in the tail. Chelsea have looked brilliant at times, and struggled at others.
But some of their inconsistency is down to teams outside the Big Four getting better.
Aston Villa have improved this season, and Manchester City and Tottenham have improved a lot.
Two years ago, Spurs would not have beaten Chelsea as they did a couple of weeks ago.
Even the teams in the bottom half are capable of springing a surprise, as we saw with Wigan's victories against Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool.
There genuinely is no easy fixture in the Premier League - except at home to Burnley. United will take comfort in Chelsea's patchy away form.
Sir Alex Ferguson's team have suffered themselves because of injuries to Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, but Chelsea have been even harder hit defensively with John Terry's lapses and Ricardo Carvalho missing games.
If United fall short, I wonder if Sir Alex will rue not signing an extra forward earlier to help compensate for Ronaldo's departure.
Rooney has exceeded expectations but Dimitar Berbatov has not scored often enough and Michael Owen's injury record, while disappointing, has unfortunately not been a surprise because over the years we have seen his body can be fragile.
Overall, however, Chelsea's slightly greater strength in depth has carried them through after they have had a bad result.
Malouda, Cole and Ballack can all score goals even if the prolific Drogba and Anelka don't. They also have a Lampard in their team - and United don't.
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