DESPITE what others may say about Liverpool's spirited charge, the Red Devils were deserving winners.

True, Liverpool might have beaten Man United twice this season.

And yes, the Reds have been the hardest team to beat as well - their two losses rank favourably against Man United's four defeats.

In fact, Rafael Benitez's men can even boast of a better goal difference than the champions.

But the league title is all about doing the business week in, week out, and not decided by the odd spectacular result.

Who cares if Liverpool can beat Man United 4-1 at Old Trafford, when they can't pick up maximum points against the likes of Stoke City, West Ham, Fulham and Hull City at home?

Stamina is the key and Man United lasted the pace.

They have proven themselves to be more adept in the gruelling league format.

AND FOR those Liverpool fans who still believe that their beloved club should be the rightful owners of the Premiership crown, look no further than the points tally in recent seasons for proof that Liverpool haven't quite done enough to win it.

Should they win their remaining two matches, they will attain a total of 86 points.

Man United won it with 87 points last season, and 89 points in the campaign before that.

Chelsea, who ruled the roost under Jose Mourinho in the 2004/05 and 2005/06 seasons, garnered 95 and 91 points respectively.

And during the 2003/04 season, Arsenal gathered 90 points as they went through the entire season unbeaten.

In other words, the maximum of 86 points which Liverpool might reach was never going to be enough this term, nor would it be in the past five seasons.

WHEN the going got tough, Man United simply got going.

Take their game against Aston Villa for example, which came hot on the heels of two successive league defeats against Liverpool and Fulham..

Man United were trailing 2-1 with 10 minutes to go.

Then, their sheer strength of will kicked in, and Cristiano Ronaldo equalised, before 17-year-old substitute Federico Macheda scored a brilliant goal on his debut to earn a 3-2 win.

Following the dramatic victory, Man United were a rejuvenated side, embarking on a seven-game winning streak.

United's fighting spirit could also be seen in their 5-2 win over Tottenham Hotspur, which came after they went into the break with a 2-0 deficit.

WHILE the statistics will not back Man United up, common sense does.

Liverpool count on Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres to deliver the goals.

Chelsea have Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka while Arsenal have Robin van Persie and Emmanuel Adebayor.

Man United have the Fab Four - Carlos Tevez, Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Every one in the quartet offers something different, and all have the ability to turn on the magic without prior warning.

The vast array of attacking options also means Sir Alex Ferguson has more weapons in his armoury to deal with different opponents, however stubborn they might be.

WHEN the nominees for the Professional Footballers' Association Player of the Year award was announced, Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard was the only non-Man United player among the six candidates.

There were the reliable Edwin van der Sar, the evergreen Ryan Giggs, the explosive Cristiano Ronaldo, the composed Rio Ferdinand and the tough Nemanja Vidic.

With such overwhelming presence in the list, surely Man United have to be the best team in the country. No?

ALL EYES were on Man United last night.

Imagine the pressure that the players were under.

The fact that they needed just a point to clinch the title must be playing on their minds.

Fergie chose to snuff out the Arsenal attacking threats as his priority, and perhaps quite rightly so.

But credit has to be given to the Man United players for sticking to their tasks and keeping their cool.

Surely, Arsenal played the better football.

They could have even won the game had Cesc Fabregas' shot in the second period cleared the post.

That would have ensured that the title race went down to the final day of the season.

However, that wouldn't have done justice to Man United's superiority this season.

More than any other team, they deserve to be champions.

Yes, even Liverpool.

Champions since the launch of the EPL