The rivalry between Manchester United and Liverpool seems to grow with every season that passes. Last year United overhauled Liverpool’s title count to become the country’s most successful side (in domestic competition), raising tensions another notch – then back in October the verbal confrontation between Luis Suarez and Patrice Evra saw temperatures at boiling point. Liverpool fans rolled out the welcome mat to Evra when the two sides met in the FA Cup a couple of weeks ago, and you can bet that Suarez will receive a rowdy reception at Old Trafford as the sides meet tonight in the Premiership.
United are looking for a win to take top place in the league for the next 24 hours, and put pressure on cross-city rivals City who don’t play until Sunday afternoon at Aston Villa. Liverpool are looking to stay in the race for 5th place and a Europa Cup spot for next season. Inconsistent home form has put a serious hurdle in the way of their chase for a Champions League place – had they converted any two of the eight home draws they would currently be sitting in 4th.
All eyes will be on the Suarez versus Eyra battle, but initial signs are that the players won’t be getting too carried away by the media hype, Suarez confirming that he won’t refuse to shake Evra’s hand in the pre-match formalities.
It will be interesting to see whether Evra demonstrates the same attitude.
Elsewhere in the Premiership the battle to avoid relegation is where the real action is this weekend with two six-pointers taking place. Blackburn host QPR and Wigan go to Bolton. A two-goal win for Blackburn would see them leapfrog the big spending Londoners and drop Mark Hughes’ new club into real relegation danger. Current form suggests that this is very possible. For all Steve Kean’s troubles at Ewood Park this season, his side are always capable of putting the ball in the net. Eight points from their last seven games doesn’t sound like a great return, but compared to QPR’s tally of six from their last 12 – it’s looking pretty good!
Wigan are in deeper trouble – a win against Bolton won’t even get them off the bottom of the table if Blackburn get anything against QPR. The Latics continue to play attractive football but lack the cutting edge up front to score the goals to fire them to safety. It’s going to be a long run to the end of the season as they try to claw back the five points that currently separate them from safety.
Rise early on Sunday morning and you can catch Spurs vs Newcastle (3rd vs 5th) and a rare battle between two English coaches in the week that Fabio Capello walked out of the national team job.
