Wayne Rooney insists he will regard it as failure if Manchester United do not complete a Premier League title hat-trick this season but says that beating Liverpool to the title would make victory all the more sweeter.
United have seen a seven-point lead whittled away to just one following defeats to second-placed Liverpool and Fulham immediately before the international break. By the time they tackle Aston Villa on Sunday, Rafael Benítez's men may have leapfrogged them, although the defending champions would have a couple of matches in hand.
However, a third straight loss this weekend would leave United's title hopes in serious jeopardy – a scenario Rooney refuses to countenance."If you don't manage to retain a trophy you can't deem it as anything but a failure," Rooney told Inside United. "You have already proved you are good enough to do it, so it just drives you on to win more. The history of the club demands that we continue winning. I don't think the players would ever let themselves become complacent."
Given the form Rooney is in, the United manager Sir Alex Ferguson could do with the England striker at present. However, along with Paul Scholes and Nemanja Vidic, Rooney must sit out the Villa game through suspension as he pays the price for his needless dismissal at Craven Cottage.
Ferguson has other problems too as Dimitar Berbatov and Anderson are both struggling with ankle and knee problems respectively, while Carlos Tevez will return from South America after a tiring flight and a morale-sapping six-goal hammering in Bolivia.
It is hardly the ideal backdrop to such an important game. But Rooney, who will return for Tuesday's Champions League quarter-final against Porto, is desperate to ensure Liverpool do not end their 19-year league title drought.
"Victory in the league this season will definitely taste sweeter if we pip Liverpool to the title," said the boyhood Everton fan. "That said, I have never had to endure much Liverpool success. The last time they won the league I was only a child. Even so, it would be hard to take if they won it this season."
