It another weekend piled with epic league fixtures, Liverpool come face to face with Manchester
United just a fortnight after seeing of their bittiest rival in the 4th
round of the FA cup at Anfield when a Dirk Kuyt late goal secured a 5th
round birth for the KOP. Liverpool, and in particular Luis Suarez, will be
facing a hostile crowd at Old Trafford on Saturday (12.45pm KO), but that won’t
be a new experience for either the club or player. More importantly, the Reds
can maintain their push for a 4th place
finish – and in turn put a dent in Utd’s title challenge – by defeating a side
they knocked out of the FA Cup 4thround just two weeks ago. After the
thrilling draw at Stamford Bridge, a game where United rescued a point where it
looked as if we were slipping to a defeat, we`re back on home turf to take on
old foes Liverpool this Saturday lunchtime. Dalglish's first match on his return to the club in January
2011 to replace Roy Hodgson was a 1-0 FA Cup defeat at Old Trafford, in which
captain Steven Gerrard was sent off.
Liverpool don’t have
the greatest record at Old Trafford, having picked up just 15 league wins from
78 matches, and only four of those were recorded from the 19 previous
encounters in the Premier League. Despite the historical stats not looking too
good for us, we can take some solace from our away form this season which is
covered in more detail below.
With
Fergie’s side still in the title race, they will hope to amend for their fourth
round FA cup defeat to their bitter rivals, and keep up the pressure on city.
Liverpool meanwhile, is struggling to even make fourth, with every minute they
continue to play the human traffic cone and serial threat to the well-being of
all that sit in row z behind the goal, Andy Carroll.
United on the other hand have lost just two of their last 15
league games. Liverpool have suffered only three defeats in their last 15
matches in all competitions. It could be very tight. The home side has scored
16 goals in its last five home games. Only Manchester City have conceded fewer
league goals than Liverpool. A cup tie atmosphere will suit Liverpool. They've
won seven of eight games in cup competition this season. United have won seven
of the last eight meetings with their old Merseyside rivals at Old Trafford but
they have to avenge the FA Cup defeat last month when they played some good
football but gave away soft goals. Liverpool will be sure to pressurise whoever
plays in the United goal after David de Gea's nerves at Anfield. Andy Carroll
had one of his best Liverpool performances that day. Suarez was brilliant in
setting up Dirk Kuyt's hat-trick in the Anfield meeting last season. United's
defence will be up against it.
The
FA has encouraged Evra and Suarez to shake hands and move on from the incident,
and United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has “no problems” that the pre-match
handshake will go ahead. Though, all eyes will be on the two players upon
kick-off, the match has enough going for the attention to soon switch to the
quality of football.
Manchester United Player to Watch: Wayne
Rooney
Wayne Rooney wasted little time getting back
in the swing of things after a short stint on the sidelines on account of
injury. Wazza put through two penalty kicks to help United force a tie with
Chelsea this past weekend and figures to feature prominently once again when
Liverpool comes to Manchester. Surprisingly enough, Rooney has scored only
twice in 19 career appearances against his hometown club. Don't expect that to
keep Rooney off the board this time, particularly with the strong season that
he's currently enjoying.
Liverpool Player to Watch: Luis Suarez
Luis Suarez's return to action didn't net
Liverpool any goals against Spurs, though his side's ball movement improved
considerably once Kenny Dalglish pulled the Uruguayan offs the bench in the
second half. Luisito will likely start against United, giving him a full match
in which to work his magic up front.
MATCH
FACTS
Head-to-head
·
Manchester
United have won six of the last seven league meetings at Old Trafford - the
exception was Liverpool's 4-1 win in March 2009.
·
Only
two of the last 23 league clashes between the sides have ended in a draw.
·
Kenny
Dalglish's first match on his return to the helm at Anfield last season was an
FA Cup third-round tie at Old Trafford. Manchester United won 1-0 but Liverpool
gained revenge in this season's FA Cup, winning 2-1 a fortnight ago.
·
Two
of the last three league meetings have featured hat-tricks - Dirk Kuyt for
Liverpool and Dimitar Berbatov for Manchester United.
Manchester
United
·
Manchester
United have won four of their last five home league games - the exception was
Blackburn's shock win at Old Trafford in December.
·
United
have dropped eight points at home so far in this league campaign - at this
stage last season, they had dropped just two.
·
Sir
Alex Ferguson's side have kept 12 clean sheets in their 24 Premier League games
this season, more than any other team.
·
Manchester
United have been awarded eight penalties in this season's Premier League, more
than any other club. They have scored six of them.
·
The
Red Devils have scored 12 goals in the last 10 minutes of league games this
season, the most in the top flight. Liverpool have scored just three, the
joint-lowest tally.
Liverpool
·
Liverpool
have won more league matches away from home than they have at Anfield - four
wins at home, six away.
·
The
Reds have won just one of their last five league matches.
No comments:
Post a Comment