Blackburn will face Manchester United at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Hughes said: “I think United will win.
“Chelsea will run them very close, but I sense United have a real desire and a hunger to win the league this season, and that will take them over the line.
“They’ve been in this position before, a number of players know what it takes at this stage of the season to win titles and that is what will help them.”
In particular, Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville and Paul Scholes – names who Hughes remarkably played alongside in his final days at the club in the mid-1990s.
Hughes is impressed with Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville and Paul Scholes: “It’s fantastic because, more often than not in days gone by, once you got to 30, you were history.
“But they’re special players, and credit to them as professionals that they are still playing.
“When you are at a club of the stature of Manchester United, it’s in your own interests do everything in your power that you stay there for as long as you can.
“These days, with the amount of information out there in terms of preparation, nutrition and looking after yourself, everything these guys need, and need to know, is at their disposal.
“That is why they are playing at such a high standard for longer.”
