Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson admits the festive programme will be crucial in their title hopes.
The Reds play the first game of the festive month this Saturday, at Blackpool - also the last league match before the big double-header of Arsenal at Old Trafford on 13 December and Chelsea away just six days later.
"You always want to win those [two] games because I think they're really significant," says Sir Alex, in the new issue of Inside United.
"We've managed to claw ourselves into a position where we're two points ahead of Chelsea, so the game at Stamford Bridge and Arsenal's trip to Manchester will certainly be very important, there's no doubt about that.
"We saw that last season - some big decisions didn't go our way in the two matches against Chelsea and they ended up costing us important points."
