Wes Brown says Manchester United's clashed with their nearest rivals are this season genuine six pointers.
Brown says that United have to win the heavyweight clashes in order to stand out from the crowd and prove that Sir Alex Ferguson's team has what it takes to go all the way in the title race.
"Maybe in seasons gone by you'd look at the fixture list and say, 'Right, we should get nine points out of those three games and six out of those two'; and then you'd go into the games against Chelsea, Liverpool or Arsenal wanting to win, but perhaps focusing more on not losing," he told Inside United.
"Now you have to win those games so you can lay a marker down in terms of your title ambitions."