Spanish Euro 2008 winners Xavi Hernandez and Fernando Torres are also strong contenders, however, with the national team coaches and captains who vote on the award having sometimes favoured international achievements over those at club level.
Barcelona winger Lionel Messi, an Olympic gold medallist with Argentina at the 2008 Beijing Games and last year's award winner, Brazilian midfielder Kaka, complete the top five.
Kaka's inclusion this time around has raised more than a few eyebrows after what was a relatively disappointing year blighted by injuries for the AC Milan playmaker.
The Brazilian already appears to have discounted his chances this year -- along with those of Messi, Xavi and Torres -- by saying that Ronaldo was the right man to pick up December's virtually identical Ballon d'Or award.
Indeed, for the past three years the Ballon d'Or winner has also gone on to pick up the FIFA version.
Ronaldo's individual skills and extraordinary goal-rate combined with his club's achievements in 2008, certainly make it hard to imagine that trend being bucked on Monday.
He ended 2008 on a further high, helping United win FIFA's Club World Cup though that competition came too late to influence the voting for Monday's award, which was completed in mid-December.
Portugal's quarter-final exit from Euro 2008 was Ronaldo's only major low of the year and could offer hope to Xavi and Torres although the European Championship has in the past had a much lesser influence on the award than FIFA's own World Cup.
As the scorer of Spain's winning goal over Germany in the Euro 2008 final and as a driving force in Liverpool's surge to the top of the current Premiership standings, Torres will not be worrying too much about that however.
Xavi played an arguably even bigger role in Spain's success, being named man of the tournament by UEFA.
Regardless of the individual players' m
