The Merseyside club visit Old Trafford off the back of going through to the quarter-finals of the Europa Cup, they will now face Benfica in the next round. United on the other hand found out that we will be facing Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. We have had a whole week to rest after the 3-0 win over Fulham, whilst Liverpool have had to play two games, their 4-1 win against Portsmouth and 3-0 win over Lille.
Man United and Liverpool has to be one of the biggest rivalries in the world. The teams hate each other, the managers hate each other, the clubs hate each other and the fans hate each other.
There have been 178 matches played between the two clubs, which have seen 68 Man United wins, 60 Liverpool wins and 50 draws.
United have lost the last three matches to Liverpool and I think it’s fair to say that we didn’t turn up in any of those games. Saying that, we may have lost to them but we did go on to win the league. During the last two matches against Liverpool, Nemanja Vidic has been sent off, which obviously I am hoping not to happen tomorrow. I wouldn’t be surprised to see at least one red card.
United have been bolstered by the return of Ryan Giggs after suffering from a broken arm. Rafael Da Silva and Jonny Evans have also returned to the squad after suffering from injuries.
Wes Brown, Anderson, Michael Owen and John O’Shea are all still out. Owen Hargreaves may have played a reserve match midweek but he will need to play a few more games with the reserves before he makes a first team return.
Liverpool are without Albert Riera who made some correct comments about manager Rafael Benitez, therefore he is suspended. Alberto Aquilani is a doubt after suffering from an illness, Martin Skrtel is out with an injury and Fabio Aurelio is expected to recover from a thigh strain.
Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard should be suspended for the game after throwing an elbow at a Portsmouth player on Monday, but he isn’t.
The referee picked is Howard Webb. He has already refereed five of United’s matches this season- United’s 5-0 win over Wigan, 2-0 win over Stoke, 3-0 loss to Fulham, 3-1 over Man City (Carling Cup) and finally the 3-1 loss to Everton.
Webb has refereed only two Liverpool matches- their 2-1 loss to Arsenal and 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur. Overall this season Webb has refereed 30 matches, showing 105 yellow cards and 4 reds.
My prediction is a 2-1 Man United win and us straight back to the top of the Premier League table.
