Plenty on the Line As Manchester United Hosts Liverpool
There is more than revenge on the minds of Manchester United when they host Liverpool at Old Trafford on Saturday. While United will look to make up for a bitter 2-1 loss in the 4th round of the FA Cup (one that saw United clearly enjoy the better of the play) but need to win more to keep pace with in-city rivals Manchester City at the top of the Premier League.
As thrilling as Manchester United’s comeback from three goals down to draw Chelsea last weekend was, it still dropped the Red Devils two points back of City at the top of the table. With the head-to-head match between the Manchester’s coming at City, it is imperative United does not fall out of touch before then.
Furthermore, the match marks the first match at Old Trafford for the Scousers Luis Suarez since his 8-game ban for allegedly racially abusing United defender Patrice Evra. In the FA Cup tie at Anfield it was the “There is only one lying bastard!” that rang loud from Liverpool fans. Expect the Stretford End to trump that with “There is only one racist bastard!” come Saturday. How referee Phil Dowd handles this game will certainly be something to keep a weather eye on. There wasn’t much on-pitch tension between the two in the FA Cup tie, we can only hope that is the same for this match.
United will look to carry over their momentum from their thrilling comeback draw and continue to get better as they finally get healthy for the first time since the beginning of the season. The return of Wayne Rooney worked wonders, the England striker scored twice and came close several other times against Chelsea. Both Nani and Tom Cleverley are close to a return as well, which would put United as close to full strength as they can be this year.
Here are a few tidbits about the United-Liverpool rivalry.
- Manchester United has dominated at Old Trafford. In the first 73 matches, United has won 38, drawn 25, and lost just 15 times.
- Man U leads to overall rivalry too- 60 wins, 44 draws, and 53 losses.
- In the last league game at Old Trafford United won 3-2 when Dimitar Berbatov scored 3 goals to Steven Gerrard’s 2.
- The game will produce goals. Only once have these two played to a scoreless draw in EPL history. The last eight games have yielded 27 total goals.
- Liverpool has won just once in their last seven games at Old Trafford.
- United has already lost twice at home this year. They have never lost more than twice at home and won the league title.
- Manchester United has scored in their last 42 home matches.
- Liverpool has drawn three of four matches that Phil Dowd has officiated this season.
- Dowd has awared 6 penalties in the last ten matches he has officiated for these clubs.
- Wayne Rooney tops United’s scoring charts with 20 goals. Craig Bellamy leads Liverpool with 9.
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