SUPER SUNDAY STARTS here as Manchester United welcome fierce rivals Liverpool to Old Trafford in the hope of derailing the Merseysiders’ Champions League challenge — and maybe stoke their own faint European hopes.
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Manchester United 0-3 Liverpool
There’s no need for hype or hyperbole. This is Manchester United v Liverpool.
The Merseysiders come into this afternoon’s game 11 points ahead of their rivals and, after yesterday’s shock, just seven behind league leaders Chelsea with two games in hand. Win those and they’ll be just a point behind Jose Mourinho’s side.
United, on the other hand, aren’t quite out of the European picture yet. A win today would give them a massive boost.
Kick-off is at 1.30pm.
Here are the teams. One change apiece — Nemanja Vidic starts at centre-half for United in place of Chris Smalling; for Liverpool, Raheem Sterling starts ahead of Philippe Coutinho.
Man United: De Gea, Rafael, Jones, Vidic, Evra; Mata, Fellaini, Carrick, Januzaj; Rooney, van Persie
Liverpool: Mignolet, Johnson, Skrtel, Agger, Flanagan, Gerrard, Allen, Henderson, Sterling, Suarez, Sturridge
Ominous for Liverpool fans…
Looking for a little bit of pre-match reading? Here are Paul Fennessy’s talking points.
One of the primary reasons why Liverpool are genuine title contenders this season is the form of Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez.
The duo are responsible for a sizeable portion of Liverpool’s 73 goals from 28 games — alone, they have managed to scoremore times than most Premier League teams this season.
Liverpool, as their overall goal tally illustrates, are far from solely reliant on their strike duo, but stopping them will go some way towards curbing their overall attacking threat.
While you’re waiting for the game to begin, you can check out our five great Man United v Liverpool goals piece, including the one below.
We’re underway…
Shouts for a penalty as Fellaini clips Suarez, but the Liverpool striker stays on his feet and Vidic tackles him eventually.
Some might be surprised by the honesty he showed in not going down there.
Liverpool have had the more positive start to this game.
So far, they’ve controlled the tempo and enjoyed the majority of possession, which is no surprise really, given how confident they must be owing to their recent form.
United launch a rare attack and the ball is played out to Rooney, who woefully overhits the cross.
The England striker has had a quiet game so far.
Luis Suarez has some shiny new boots for today…
Meanwhile, a United legend and the current Cardiff manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, is in attendance.
Suarez plays a clever through ball to Sturridge, but the Liverpool player mishits his shot.
Seconds later, Rooney bursts into the Liverpool area, but he is closed down and tackled well by the defender.
This game is showing signs that it’s about to really come to life. It’s been fascinating but hardly explosive, in the way these games often are, so far.
Suarez and Sturridge have linked up a couple of times now, which is ominous for United fans, even if they’ve yet to create a clear-cut chance.
The defenders look slightly nervy every time they get the ball, but they’ve dealt with the Liverpool duo relatively well so far.
As I type, the ball deflects into the path of Joe Allen, who shoots tamely and straight at De Gea, allowing the Spanish goalkeeper to save comfortably.
Flanagan gets booked for committing a foul, this time on Januzaj, for the umpteenth time.
Shortly thereafter, Rafael also gets booked for a late tackle on Steven Gerrard.
It certainly wouldn’t be a big surprise if at least one of these teams didn’t finish this game with 11 men.
PENALTY FOR LIVERPOOL!
GOAL FOR LIVERPOOL!
Man United 0-1 Liverpool: Steven Gerrard coolly strikes the penalty into the top corner (35 mins).
It was a clear-cut penalty as well, after Rafel handballed as Suarez attempted to get away from him.
It’s well-deserved, as Liverpool have clearly been the better team.
If there’s one silver lining for United, it’s the fact that Rafael is still on the pitch.
The defender is already on a booking, and his deliberate handball for the penalty probably should have resulted in another yellow.
Van Persie takes a snap shot and it deflects off Skrtel before going out for a corner.
United showing some signs of life finally.
Chance for United! Rafael crosses to Rooney, whose powerful effort is well saved by Mignolet.
United are slowly starting to gain the upperhand in recent minutes.
HALF-TIME: MAN UNITED 0-1 LIVERPOOL
So a fascinating first half in which Liverpool dominated for large parts, but United showed signs that they were getting back into it just before the half-time whistle.
Join us for more after a short break.
PENALTY TO LIVERPOOL!
GOAL FOR LIVERPOOL!
Liverpool 2-0 United: Clumsy from Phil Jones, who brings down Joe Allen needlessly in the box.
Gerrard once again makes no mistake with the penalty to give Liverpool the perfect start to the second half (47 mins).
Here’s a look at the first goal and the infringement that led to the penalty.
Januzaj wins a corner for United, who badly need a goal. The youngster has been largely ineffectual today.
Meanwhile, Agger has received a nasty black and is currently off the field getting treatment.
Suarez runs forward menacingly with the ball but slips as he gets into the box.
The striker hasn’t exactly excelled today, but United have been so poor that he hasn’t really needed to.
Liverpool are looking increasingly dangerous on the counter-attack as United desperately throw bodies forward.
David Moyes needs to make a substitution sooner rather than later — and as I type, Welbeck has begun to warm up.
Flanagan makes a poor challenge that probably should have resulted in a second yellow.
The referee seems determined not to send anyone off, or at least even things up in terms of dodgy decisions.
Wayne Rooney has been shifted to the left with Mata now in his favoured number ten role.
It’ll be interesting to see if it makes a difference.
Steven Gerrard takes a pot shot that deflects just off target.
United just don’t look like scoring at the moment, with Welbeck and Cleverley set to come on.
Cleverley and Welbeck replace Januzaj and Fellaini.
The subbed players in question have both been pretty disappointing today.
PENALTY FOR LIVERPOOL!
Vidic appears to clip the onrushing Sturridge and gets sent off the process. Disaster for United!
MISSED PENALTY!
Steven Gerrard hits the post, thus missing the opportunity to become the first player to score a hat-trick at Old Trafford in 77 years.
It won’t be much consolation for 10-man United though.
United are lucky not to concede another penalty as Carrick clips Sturridge in the box.
The referee has been almost as poor as United today.
Suarez misses a chance to make it three.
United have been well and truly dominated today.
GOAL FOR LIVERPOOL!
Liverpool 3-0 United: Sturridge mishits a shot, but it falls to Suarez, who makes no mistake this time (83 mins).
The scoreline is a fair reflection of how much better Liverpool have been today than their hapless opponents.
Gary Neville, commenting on Sky, calls United “tactically naive”.
I wonder what his brother, Phil, who’s now a coach at United, makes of that.
FULL-TIME: LIVERPOOL 3-0 MAN UNITED
Liverpool secure an emphatic and well-deserved 3-0 victory.
How do United lift themselves for their midweek Champions League game now?
Right, that’s all from me from now, as I’m off to liveblog Arsenal v Tottenham, but we’ll have more reaction from this game shortly.
Thanks for reading and commenting.
