One of football most celebrated rivalries in English football is here! Manchester United will host arch rivals Liverpool at the Theater of Dreams, Old Trafford on Sunday, January 13, 2013 at 1330 GMT.
The last five meetings at Old Trafford between these teams have seen Manchester United win four and Liverpool win just the one match, all the way back in 2009. This game is very important for both the teams as a victory will propel Liverpool further up the in the table. As for United, it will ensure that they maintain their seven point gap over Manchester City at the top of the table.
Sir Alex Ferguson and his men will be entering this game with loads of confidence as they haven’t lost a game for over a month, playing consistent and wonderful football through the busy month of December. They will start the game seven points clear of Manchester City at the top of the English Premier League table.
Wayne Rooney is set to miss this clash due to injury hence giving Javier Hernandez a chance to start a game. Hernandez has proven to be a great revelation for the Red Devils. Alongside Rooney, Phil Jones, Anderson and Nani are likely to sit out as well.
This game will see Robin van Persie of Manchester United and Luis Suarez of Liverpool both in impeccable form this season, taking on each other. This is a chance for both of them to add to their tally of 16 and 15 goals respectively.
Liverpool boss, Brendon Rodgers will be looking to play Suarez and Daniel Sturridge together after the latter made his debut over the weekend. Sturridge also scored on debut, his goal happened to be the fastest goal by a Liverpool debutant in a long time.
With the introduction of the English striker in the Liverpool squad we could see changes in the formation for Liverpool as Suarez may play on the left giving him more pace and time for his trickery. A win in this game for the Reds, could instill loads of confidence in the lads. They have been playing good football over the last couple of months managing to win four of their last six games. Both losses were highly unexpected, but that is football for you.
Liverpool will see Jose Enrique miss this match after he pulled his hamstring a couple of weeks back, he is expected to be sidelined for another six weeks. Fabio Borini who was out for a long time has started training with the first team, but is not yet match fit enough to make an appearance. Martin Kelly will also miss this game.
This game will be an action packed thriller as both the teams really despise each other on the ground. Expect loads of controversies and mind games before and after the match.
Howard Webb will be refereeing this game between these footballing two giants.