Liverpool and Manchester United are the two most successful clubs in English football. Winning titles and trophies is in their DNA.
But they are also the country’s two biggest rivals. And sometimes, even when one club isn’t quite at their best, an opportunity arises for them to stop the old enemy in their tracks. That is what’s at stake at Old Trafford today.
United can still win the FA Cup - ironically after landing a sucker punch to knock Liverpool out in the quarter-finals in a 4-3 thriller last month. But Liverpool are around the top of the Premier League and will equal United’s record of 20 titles if they can hold Arsenal and Manchester City at bay in the final eight games of the season.
After making so much of Sir Alex Ferguson’s achievement of knocking the Merseysiders off their perch, the last thing any Old Trafford fan will want to see is Jurgen Klopp redressing the balance before he leaves in the summer.
The game evokes memories of 1992. Liverpool were the top dogs in England. They would have to settle for the FA Cup that season after United and Leeds turned the race for the last Football League first division championship into a thriller. United had not won the title since 1967. But Fergie had already stated his ambition to overtake Liverpool’s success - and he would eventually deliver on that promise. But when he walked into Anfield that April, his team’s form had dipped.
I was at the game. I was 17 and had just signed my first professional contract with the club. There was an unmistakable sense of anticipation that Liverpool could deliver a defeat that would devastate United’s dream.
Ian Rush had never scored against United before. But he did that day - and so did Mark Walters as Liverpool prevailed 2-0. The Kop sang ‘Always Look on the Bright Side of Life’ as the visiting players trudged off knowing it was all over for another year. Later that day, Leeds went to Sheffield United to clinch the title with a 3-2 victory.
Memories like that are precious for players and supporters - and that’s why Liverpool cannot afford to be as complacent as they were the last time they travelled down the East Lancs Road. We are at the stage of the season where every game is vital. There’s no room for mistakes.
That FA Cup defeat should have given Klopp’s team a timely reminder that crazy things can happen in football. Especially when Liverpool play Man United. Erik ten Hag has got many reasons of his own to beat Liverpool. But ask any United fan and they will tell you that stopping Liverpool winning a 20th title would be huge.
Arsenal were United’s big rivals when Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger were in their pomp. City have been their local rivals since Gorton met Newton Heath 143 years ago. But the enmity that exists between Liverpool and United is unique in the English game.
The problem the home team have got today is that there is a huge gap in the quality of both teams. The current Premier League table has the gulf set at 22 points at the moment - but I expect that to have been extended to 25 when Liverpool leave Old Trafford.
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