Manchester United v Liverpool – Saturday 11th February – Old Trafford (14:45)
Manchester United v Liverpool
The English Premier League is tossing up mouth watering encounters on a more frequent note as the title race looks to be going down to the wire. These old foes will go head to head in an attempt to destroy each other’s title pursuits and this encounter has proven over the years that it’s not for the faint hearted. Both teams will be going all out for the victory.
Man United are coming off a hard fought 3-3 draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last weekend. United found themselves 3-0 down with over half an hour to play and many of their fans wrote them off as they looked lack lusted. However Sir Alex Ferguson proved once again why he is one the best managers in world football as he made the vital changes to salvage a magnificent comeback. All be it Man United were awarded two penalties, with the second one seeming very harsh, United looked the better team towards the end of the match and at one stage looked like they could even snatch the victory. A brace from Wayne Rooney and a header from late substitute Javier Hernandez secured a point for United. In the post match interview Sir Alex was very impressed with his teams fighting spirit but conceded that it was more 2 points dropped than 1 point gained as they now trail their Manchester rivals by 2 points.
Liverpool played to a goalless draw against fellow title contenders Tottenham on Monday night. The game was one of minimum opportunities as either team played a more defensive style of football and failed to put the few chances that were created in the back of the net. Manager Kenny Dalglish should have chosen to start the returning Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez as he looked the most likely to break the dead lock when he came on. His return could not come at a more crucial time as the Uruguayan ran Man United ragged in last season’s encounter. Captain fantastic Steven Gerrard seems to be finding his feet after struggling through a phase of injury and he will have a massive part to play in rallying his troopers to put one over their old foes. Liverpool will be looking to repeat the fate of their FA Cup victory as they downed United 2-1.
This encounter is always filled with drama and one will be interested to see how Luis Suarez and Patrice Evra face up to each other after the whole racism saga. Both teams are coming off a well fought draw and I think they should cancel each other out and play to a draw.
