Liverpool vs Manchester United Preview

Liverpool vs Manchester United. This is the biggest rivalry in English soccer. The two most storied clubs in English history will take the pitch on Saturday. A loss for either will massively dent their league aspirations, while a draw could be just as bad. Manchester United are still in the title race, trailing Man City by 3 points. Liverpool are still in the race for the last Champions League spot and trail 4^th place Chelsea by 4 points. The last time these teams met at Old Trafford, it was Dalglish’s first game back as Liverpool Manager. The result was a 1-0 loss for Liverpool and knocked them out of the F.A. Cup. Liverpool returned the favor a few months later with a 3-1 trashing at Anfield courtesy of a Dirk Kuyt hatrick. The sides have already met twice this season, both at Anfield. The first, an entertaining 1-1 draw in which United were lucky to leave with a point. In the second, Liverpool knocked United out of the F.A. Cup, 2-1, with a late Kuyt winner.

While both sides have had their injury problems this season, they both also have welcomed back key parts of their team in recent weeks. United had Rooney, Young, Nani and Cleverly return training, though only Rooney and Young played in the Chelsea game over the weekend. Liverpool had Suarez return from his 8-game ban, and while he only appeared as a substitute for the Tottenham game, he is expected to start this weekend in Manchester. He should receive a hostile reception at the hands of the Untied fans due to his use of racial language towards Evra. Both teams have key parts of their defense currently missing. United are missing Vidic, who is out for the season, and Lindegaard. While Liverpool are missing Lucas, for the season, and Enrique may not be fit to play this weekend due to a tightened hamstring that forced him to miss their last game.

With both teams having great defenses, this should be a low scoring affair. Even though United have doubled Liverpool’s goal scored total and scored 3 over the weekend at Stamford Bridge, this should be a much more defense oriented game. Both managers have great respect for each other and won’t be willing to test their luck by going on the offensive too early. There will be a no nonsense style of play, similar to their first encounter. The second half should feature a more attacking style. If Liverpool get beat, it will be from United’s wing play. Valencia caused many problems for Liverpool during the last encounter and was unlucky to not score with a shot that hit the post. I expect Young to cause just as many problems, even though he was very quiet during the first league match at Anfield this year. Andy Carroll was a big part of both goals for Liverpool during the F.A. Cup encounter and I expect him to cause similar problems during this game. He distracted De Gea which allowed Agger to score the first goal, and he flicked on a long ball for Kuyt to score the second. He has been in much better form recently and my feeling is that he will either assist or score a goal for Liverpool. Watch for Suarez to terrorize the United defense the same way he has in their previous league encounters.  I’m going to say that Liverpool will win 2-1. Being a Liverpool fan this might be wishful thinking, but I know they have the talent to cause United problems and have played well against United in the recent past. This fixture is always a can’t miss game and should be a great game to watch.