The psychological warfare between Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsène Wenger has been a fixture for more than a decade, but, while the Manchester United manager attempted to pile on the pressure against his great adversary last night by claiming that Arsenal “will drop points”, the champions’ most immediate concern appears not to be the title race, but the perceived victimisation of Cristiano Ronaldo by referees.

Ferguson criticised Rob Styles after the official booked Ronaldo for diving during United’s 2-0 win over Fulham at Old Trafford on Monday evening, when the Portugal winger should have been awarded a penalty after being caught by Antti Niemi, the goalkeeper. Ryan Giggs, the captain, has echoed his manager’s claims that Ronaldo is suffering as a result of his previous reputation for going to ground too easily.

“I think he is paying for his reputation,” Giggs, the winger, said. “He did have a reputation [for diving] when he first came over here, but that has gone now. It is hard for the referee. Everything happens quickly, Ronny is running so fast and he has to make a split-second decision.

“Maybe he didn’t give it [a penalty] because there was no contact, but Ronny was trying to avoid the goalkeeper and his [Niemi’s] arms followed his legs. That is not simulation. Everyone thinks it is a penalty and if the referee looks back on it, he may feel he has made a mistake.”

Ferguson suggested that Niemi had “conned” Styles by immediately claiming that Ronaldo had dived, although it was not the first time the referee had made a big error. Styles was forced to apologise to Rafael BenÍtez, the Liverpool manager, this season after awarding Chelsea a penalty when Florent Malouda, challenged by Steve Finnan, fell after he jumped to allow a pass to run through to Didier Drogba. The decision cost Liverpool victory, but it is unlikely that Keith Hackett, the general manager of the Professional Game Match Officials Limited, the referees’ governing body, will take as dim a view of Styles’s latest mistake.

While Ronaldo continues to divide opinion, few doubt his exceptional ability. His two goals against Fulham took his total for the season to 13 and Giggs believes that he is virtually unplayable. “Cristiano is on fire,” he said. “He is strong in the air, his volleying technique is fantastic and he is scoring virtually all the goals.”

Like Giggs, Ferguson believes that the title race is starting to take shape, with the so-called “big four” of Arsenal, United, Chelsea and Liverpool occupying the top four positions, but he is convinced that Wenger’s team, who are top, will slip up sooner rather than later.

“We’d like to be three points better off,” Ferguson, whose team trail Arsenal by three points having played a game more, said. “If we hadn’t lost to Bolton, we would have been in a great position. Arsenal are playing well, but it’s a long season and they know that, too. They will drop points, there’s no doubt about that.”

Giggs said: “We have said all season the league is going to be tight. We are not too bothered about being top at the turn of the year, but as long as we are thereabouts, we will be happy.”