Title champagne on ice for United

By Trevor Huggins

LONDON (Reuters) - Manchester United could ease the disappointment of being knocked out of the Champions League by winning the English league title for the 16th time this weekend.

They can take a huge step towards lifting the trophy on Saturday -- less than three days after their semi-final defeat at AC Milan -- by beating Manchester City away.

Their first Premier League title since 2003 will then be sealed a little over 24 hours later if they have won and second-placed Chelsea fail to beat Arsenal in the London derby at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

United have a five-point lead with three matches to play and can win the double by taking Chelsea's title and beating them in the first FA Cup final at the new Wembley Stadium on May 19.

After the Champions League defeat, United manager Alex Ferguson told Sky Sports: "You have to put disappointment behind you which has been a measure of this club. We've handled it in the past and we can handle it on Saturday.

UNITED INCENTIVE

"We can win the title at the weekend. We know it's a big game -- that's the incentive for us. What we have to do now is make sure we recover in the proper way."

Ferguson hinted that central defender Rio Ferdinand could return from injury to face a City side who have not scored at home for seven successive matches since New Year's Day -- a record in the English top flight.