Manchester United head to Anfield to face their biggest rivals Liverpool, in the first big clash of the new season.
After some less than impressive performances in the opening games of the season, Liverpool take on their arch enemy in a game which should give an indication of how close Rafa Benitez’s side is to finally winning the top league in England for the first time since 1990.
Even though their performances against Sunderland, Middlesborough and Aston Villa have been poor, Liverpool still have seven points from a possible nine.
And with the potentially explosive strike force of Robbie Keane and Fernando Torres, there will be a lot of money going pouring in for a Liverpool victory. However, these spread betters will have to consider one amazing statistic – Benitez has yet to see a Liverpool player score against United!
Liverpool did score against United in the Premiership in Benitez’s first game in charge against United but that was a John O’Shea own goal at Old Trafford back in September 2004. You have to go back to the 2001/2002 season to find the last time that Liverpool beat United at Anfield in the league, when two goals from Michael Owen and a John Arne Riise goal were enough to cancel out a David Beckham strike.
In their opening game against Sunderland they failed to sparkle, and it took an 83rd minute strike from Fernando Torres to grab the win. In their following game against Middlesborough, it was two late goals from Jamie Carragher in the 86th minute and an injury time winner from Steven Gerrard which kept their 100% record intact.
The last league game before the International break was a dour 0-0 draw against Aston Villa, in which Liverpool, without Gerrard and with Torres picking up an injury, failed to even have a shot on target during the entire 90 minutes, and with a strike force of Keane and Torres, a football bet of no strikes on target from Liverpool would have yielded high dividends.
It is also looking like Liverpool will have to do without their inspirational captain Gerrard, for this game after he had to withdraw from Fabio Capello’s England Squad through a groin injury. And without that spark in midfield Liverpool could struggle to contend with United’s potential trio of Scholes, Carrick and Anderson. Scholes has certainly provided spark in recent fixtures between the two sides in recent years, having scored in the Old Trafford meeting in 2006, and then getting himself sent off in the return fixture at Anfield in March 2007.
As you expect in a match that involves the two biggest clubs in the country, Scholes’ dismissal at Anfield hasn’t been the only flashpoint in recent years. Spread betters will be interested to know that in the last two seasons, there have been 17 bookings and 2 sendings off, including Mascherano’s breakdown at Old Trafford in March. They will also like to know that in the last four meetings at Anfield there have been 18 bookings and 2 sendings off.
As mentioned earlier United have a fantastic record against Liverpool in recent years taking 16 points out of a possible 18 from their local rivals.
In 2005, in another early season meeting, the sides drew 0-0 in a drab Sunday lunch time affair, with the only notable occurrence being the last ever appearance in a United philadelphia phillies los angeles dodgers detroit tigers hoodie by Roy Keane.
Fast forward to January 2006 and another drab affair, this time at Old Trafford, was heading for a scoreless draw before United grabbed a late winner through a powerful Rio Ferdinand header to send the United fans into raptures and prompting Gary Neville to run the length of the field to celebrate infront of the travelling Liverpool fans. This occurred after Djbril Cisse had missed a relatively easy chance for Liverpool early in the second half.
October 2006 saw Liverpool travel to Manchester eight points behind United, and by full time they would be 11 points further back. Offering little threat throughout the game, they fell behind to a Paul Scholes strike on the half hour, before Rio Ferdinand made the game safe with a sweet left foot volley.
In March 07 United travelled to Merseyside with a nine point lead over rivals Chelsea, but were second best for most of the contest, with Edwin Van Der Sar having to make some big saves during the game and Liverpool having a Craig Bellamy goal disallowed on the hour mark. Then after Scholes had been dismissed in the 86th minute, United grabbed the win through a John O’Shea strike, after Reina had spilled a Ronaldo free kick. In hindsight it was probably the result that clinched United the title.
Last season United grabbed another double over Liverpool. First in December, Argentine Carlos Tevez grabbed the winner just before half time after turning in a Wayne Rooney centre. In a match dominated by United’s centre-half pairing of Vidic and Ferdinand, Liverpool couldn’t break down United’s back line and their supporters were again left frustrated.
Their luck didn’t change much in the return fixture, although their performance certainly didn’t merit any rewards on this occasion as United stormed to an easy 3-0 victory through a Wes Brown header and, after Javier Mascherano was sent-off, late strikes by Ronaldo and Nani sealed the win.
With United heading to Anfield, not only as Champions of England, but also as Champions of Europe, it is sure to be a raucous atmosphere as the Kop tries to spur their team on to an overdue victory over their biggest rivals. This is the happy season for football spread betters [ who are all game for the biggest game of the season with sparks flying all around.
write by ramirez