Liverpool desperately want to avoid United moving ahead of them in the record books by lifting the championship a record 19th time.
When Sir Alex Ferguson took over as United manager in 1986 he proclaimed his target was to "knock Liverpool off their perch" but by the time he finally managed to win the league in 1993, United's eighth title, Liverpool had extended their tally to 18.
United's remarkable dominance since then, married to Liverpool's 21-season barren spell, has brought the north-west rivals level on 18 titles, with United homing in on the 19th.
Tuesday's 2-1 setback at Chelsea put the brakes on that charge to a fourth title in five years and though United still lead the way on 60 points, Arsenal, who host Sunderland on Saturday, are four points behind with a game in hand.
"At this club, you have to recover," Ferguson said after the Chelsea defeat. "That result's put us back but we have to recover for Sunday's game."
"At the moment we feel pretty down, but we can move on quickly. We have to," he said. "We're used to doing that and we're normally good at it so hopefully we can bounce back again.
"We have to get rid of this game, forget about it and move on. It's obviously a huge game on Sunday and we'll be ready."
Liverpool's charge up the table has slowed as, after four successive wins, they were held 1-1 at home by Wigan then lost 3-1 at West Ham United last Sunday.
Arsenal will need all their famed "mental strength" to concentrate on a Sunderland game sandwiched by cup action.
The disappointment of last weekend's upset 2-1 League Cup Final defeat by Birmingham City was tempered by Wednesday's 5-0 victory over Leyton Orient that sent them into the FA quarter-finals.
