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start 2021 breathing down 's neck in what could easily develop into a classic title race.
Following a shaky opening to the season, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's team are hitting their stride and just about keeping pace with the reigning champions.
The meeting of the top two at Anfield on January 17 will tell us much more about whether United can genuinely stay the course but they're undoubtedly better placed than in most recent seasons.
Paul Pogba (right) celebrates with Marcus Rashford after the striker's late winner on Tuesday
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's United side have emerged as potential title challengers to Liverpool
Having not won the Premier League since Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement in 2013, a sustained title bid would suggest a possible return to former glories at Old Trafford.
But do Solskjaer's team actually have what it takes to beat Liverpool and everyone else?
Here's five reasons why they can win the title and five reasons why they'll fall short.
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WHY THEY CAN WIN THE TITLE
BRILLIANT BRUNO
Solskjaer's tenure as United manager appeared to be heading nowhere last January but the decision to sign Bruno Fernandes has proved transformative to the club's fortunes.
The Portuguese playmaker has scored 26 goals and contributed 17 assists in 45 matches for United since his debut on February 1.
In that time, no Premier League player has been involved in more goals or chipped in with more assists.
Only Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah has scored more league goals.
Bruno Fernandes has been absolutely majestic to United since he arrived at the club in January
Sights like this - Fernandes scoring at Leicester on Boxing Day - have become familiar ones
His creative brilliance and assured finishing have elevated United from a side struggling to make the top six to one that could go all the way and even at the full price of £67million he could prove a snip.
United's title-winning teams under Ferguson typically had a game-changed, whether it be Eric Cantona, Ryan Giggs, David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo or Wayne Rooney - a player that could conjure up a bit of magic when it was most needed.
Fernandes offers that in Solskjaer's team now and is unquestionably one of the finest players currently in the Premier League.
Could he offer the x-factor that is required to win titles?
DEVASTATING FORWARDS
On paper at the very least, United have a strikeforce that measures up to any in the Premier League.
With Fernandes supporting the likes of Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, Mason Greenwood and Edinson Cavani, they certainly boast the firepower to win the vast majority of the games they play.
We all know that United are especially devastating on the counter-attack with the speed of Rashford, Martial and Greenwood tailor-made for Solskjaer's game plan.
Summer signing Edinson Cavani has certainly added a fresh dynamic to United's front line
Rashford celebrates scoring his 94th-minute winner against Wolves on Tuesday night
The challenge is getting them all performing to their highest level in tandem.
While Fernandes and Rashford - who both have 14 goals across all competitions this season - are excelling on a consistent basis, Martial (four goals) and Greenwood (three) are not at the moment.
Fortunately for United, Cavani has come in and picked up some of the slack.
Given more of an opportunity in recent weeks, he has reminded everyone of his lethal finishing with important goals at Southampton and in the Carabao Cup quarter-final at Everton.
Given that the fixtures will come thick and fast during the second-half of the season, Solskjaer will need all his strikers to be fully firing to claim the first silverware of his tenure.
IMPROVING AT THE BACK
The early weeks of the season certainly didn't bode well for United.
They were leaking goals left, right and centre - notably the six that Tottenham stuffed past them at Old Trafford.
Harry Maguire looked distracted and neither Victor Lindelof, Luke Shaw nor Eric Bailly looked remotely near United calibre.
However, as the season has pushed on, United have gradually started to look more organised and resolute in defence.
That's not to say they're capable of keeping clean sheets in every match, but they have improved.
Harry Maguire (left) and Luke Shaw have improved dramatically from early season wobbles
Goalkeeper David de Gea celebrates Rashford's winner to pick up three crucial points
Maguire, who has played more minutes this calendar year than any professional in world football, has rediscovered much of his poise after that troubled summer.
Shaw has embraced the competition at left-back from summer arrival Alex Telles and Aaron Wan-Bissaka often looks a class act on the other side.
The much-maligned goalkeeper David de Gea seems to have responded to the return of Dean Henderson and has cut out the errors that led to question marks last season.
United's back line remains far from the best in the division but it's getting better.
They can't allow the kind of sloppiness seen in, say, the Champions League games away to Istanbul Basaksehir and RB Leipzig, to derail their title bid.
NEVER-SAY-DIE SPIRIT IS BACK
Ferguson's title-winning teams were at their most thrilling when fighting back from a deficit in games.
Solskjaer's side has rediscovered some of that old never-say-die spirit.
The come-from-behind wins against Southampton, West Ham, Everton and Sheffield United in recent weeks certainly want for entertainment and it's on such occasions that delirious crowds really are missed.
Sir Alex Ferguson's side made an art form out of improbable comebacks and late winners
Edinson Cavani was United's stoppage time matchwinner against Southampton last month
United turned late goals and comebacks into an art form for years and years and while ideally you'd never fall behind in the first place, at least they have what it takes to fight back.
It was in evidence on Tuesday night as Rashford scored a 94th-minute winner to earn three priceless points against Wolves at Old Trafford.
It was United's latest winner at home in the league since September 2009, when Michael Owen scored in a 4-3 win over Manchester City, as their persistence eventually paid off.
This quality will no doubt come in very handy during the home stretch if they're still in the running for the title.
TITLE RACE IS WIDE OPEN
What is for certain is that no one team is going to run away with the title from here in the manner Liverpool did last season.
Too many teams towards the top end of the table are dropping too many points for that.
The Christmas fixtures saw Liverpool held at home by West Brom, Leicester and United share the spoils, while Chelsea lost to Arsenal.
No one team appears to have the winning consistency that Liverpool found last season to make a break for it.
Liverpool surprisingly dropped points in a 1-1 home draw against West Brom on Sunday
The added chaos factor brought about by a cramped fixture list, the potential for more Covid-related postponements, healthtopical.com the impact of these on player form and fitness and the challenge of fighting on multiple fronts in the new year means it's anyone's guess who will lift the trophy in May.
It's an unpredictability that allows Everton and Aston Villa to punch above their weight this season, while you'd still expect to see more from Man City and a second wind from Chelsea and Tottenham.
In such a climate, any team that can maybe snatch a couple of important wins here and there, or string just two or three wins together, may end up champions.
WHY THEY CAN'T WIN THE TITLE
LIVERPOOL ARE STRONGER
The obvious hurdle to United winning the Premier League is the fact Liverpool still look far stronger.
The reigning champions have still lost just the once in the league this season and are unbeaten since the start of October.
And all this in the absence of influential defender Virgil van Dijk and other key defensive personnel.
Jurgen Klopp's side may have unexpectedly dropped points against West Brom on Sunday and at Fulham a couple of weeks back but they have kicked on impressively amid various distractions this season.
Liverpool won the Premier League last season and are still favourites to retain their title
<div class="art-ins mol-factbox floatRHS sport" data-version="2" id="mol-c8fd3190-4360-11eb-8112-11f89a1395fd" website Manchester United have enough to win the Premier League?
