Liverpool: Can the Reds complete a Manchester Double against United?
Kenny Dalglish’s men booked their place in the final of the Carling Cup in midweek with an aggregate win over Premier League leaders Manchester City, but on Saturday they host the Premier League champions and fierce rivals Manchester United in the Fourth Round of the FA Cup. Can Liverpool do the double and knock both Manchester sides out of cup competitions in less than a week?
Liverpool have endured a difficult season, particularly at home where they have dropped crucial points to the likes of Blackburn, Norwich, Stoke and Swansea – the type of teams that Liverpool should be walking over if they are to realise their dreams of Champions League football. Dalglish has also seen some of his big name signings struggle to settle at Anfield. Charlie Adam, Jordan Henderson, Stewart Downing and Andy Carroll all arrived for huge sums of money but have so far failed to repay the manager’s faith in them.
However, the Reds are within touching distance of the top four, have booked their place in the Carling Cup final and are potentially 90 minutes away from ruining Sir Alex Ferguson’s big day out in the FA Cup. And beating United would make every Liverpool fan happy!
Liverpool have not lost to their fierce rivals at Anfield in five years, with Javier Hernandez’s late equaliser in October preventing the visitors from a fourth straight defeat on Merseyside. Unfortunately that game was overshadowed by Luis Suarez’s racist slant towards United’s Patrice Evra, and the former Ajax striker will have to watch from the stands as his ban continues. Liverpool were furious about the severity of that ban but no right-minded football fan can support Suarez after what he said. He is a top, top player, but there is no place for that in our game.
Manchester United have bounced back from their New Year wobble against Blackburn and at Newcastle and even knocked out the FA Cup holders and neighbours Manchester City in the last round. The goals have returned but United’s last win at Anfield came courtesy of a Carlos Tevez strike in 2007.
United have lost only once on their travels this season, but Liverpool remain undefeated at home. Unfortunately for Liverpool, previous FA Cup meetings have not been so good for the Reds. Liverpool have won just three of the previous 12 clashes in this competition to United’s nine, however the omens are good for Liverpool. In all but one of those FA Cup meetings the home side has come out on top.
There's no love loss between Liverpool and Manchester United, nor Kenny Dalglish and Sir Alex Ferguson. They are the two most successful clubs in English football and there is nothing worse than losing to your bitter enemy. Dalglish will have his troops fired up for this one and Anfield will be rocking from start to finish. United have been in situations like this time and time again so this will not faze them. Rooney will come in for his usual stick and Evra faces a barrage of abuse from the home fans, but that will just make United the visitors stronger.
There's never a dull moment when these two sides meet, but with the Suarez affair still fresh in our minds and a place at stake in the Fifth Round of the FA Cup, let's hope we are only talking about the game on Sunday morning.
On their day Liverpool can beat anyone, but can they do the double and knock both Manchester sides out of cup competitions in less than a week? We'd love to hear from you.
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