The closest  Premier League contest for years is about to be rejoined and possibly influenced by the Champions League as it emerges from winter hibernation. Three of the four teams pursuing the English title down the final straight may each have difficulty separating home thoughts from abroad.

Manchester United, who have been there before, should have fewer problems than Liverpool or Arsenal in keeping their minds on whatever job is immediately to hand. United have just regained the lead in the Premier League and are handily placed at the top of their Champions League group, having already held their most serious challengers Bayern Munich to a 1-1 draw in the Olympiastadion.

Liverpool, on the other hand, have ground to make up in the Champions League while trying to stay in touch with Manchester United at the top of the Premiership. Holding Roma in a scoreless game in Italy has only partly offset the debilitating effect on their quarter-final chances of losing 3-1 at home to Barcelona.

When it comes to priorities, however, the Champions League and its promised riches conquer all. Even the Premiership title is a mere bonus compared to making sure of continued Champions League participation by finishing in the top four. Last season, once Manchester United had killed off the contest, this was all that mattered over the final month.

Even the presence of three English teams at the Champions League's knockout stage turned out to be a damp squib, heady speculation about an all-English final evaporating as Manchester United and Arsenal were dispatched by Bayern and Valencia, who beat Leeds in the semi-finals.

The prospect of all three English clubs making the quarter-finals this time look slim although the next two nights could brighten such forecasts. Certainly Alex Ferguson, for whom this is no longer the last chance to win a second European Cup, will be disappointed if his team do not emerge from tomorrow night's match in Nantes even more strongly placed to go through. He believes his side need 10 points to make the last eight and he feels they can achieve that total with two games to spare if they can beat Nantes home and away.

"With Bayern playing Boavista in a double-header and us playing Nantes in a double-header, if we can get the advantage of that then we'll be in a good position," said the United manager, who is expected to sign his new four-year contract this week. "If we beat Nantes home and away, then we will qualify - there's no question about that."

While the French side have begun to turn their season around since Argentine coach, Angel Marcos, took over this is the sort of match Manchester United will expect to win given their form. True, most of United's victories have come against modest opposition but Nantes are surely in that category even if Viroel Moldovan and Marama Vahirua could be bad news for Laurent Blanc.

Liverpool should beat Galatasaray at Anfield tomorrow evening. Given the demands of their second-round group they can hardly afford to do otherwise. The Turkish team do not look the force which knocked out Manchester United in the early 1990s and they had four men sent off in Saturday's skirmish with Fenerbahce. An injury to their playmaker, Sergen Yalcin, has not enhanced their chances of curbing Steven Gerrard and Dietmar Hamann.

Of all the English teams Liverpool need to keep a momentum going in the Champions League and the Premiership, the one feeding off the other. After tomorrow they go back to Istanbul to face not only Galatasaray but the Dante's inferno of the Ali Sami Yen stadium, and the following week they meet Barcelona at the Nou Camp. Compared to all this Michael Owen, Emile Heskey and Gerrard should find the World Cup a doddle.

Guardian Service