Man Utd Vs Liverpool

Dub13

I love the build up to the "Big games",and they dont come much bigger than this one.I think it is very inportant for both clubs maybe more so for Man Utd.Over the last few years Liverpool have a very good record at the what us Liverpool fans call the "Theatre of Nightmares" we have won 3 out of the last 4 But we have no Danny Murphy now .

I think it will be close but well I am going to go for a Liverpool win maybe 2:1.

PS:Anybody know is Rio and Shrek will play.....?

Dont be at yourself

Oh boy, this thread is going to get nasty.

Of the two, Liverpool are the form team at the moment, but Utd have Rio and Rooney(Wayne is to start on the bench) for the first time this season. I can only hope that we continue to play as we have done in the last couple of games (it's a bit wishful to ask Utd to repeat their first half CL performance though!), and if we do, I think we've a great chance of taking all three points.

It's a crucial match for ManYoo, one they cannot afford to lose. A win for either team will go some way to (re-?)establishing them as title contenders.

Big Ears

Liverpool win .

smemon

ferdinands almost certain to start with 'shrek' on the bench.

must-win game for manu, its a very bad time for liverpool to be playing them imo once fergie stuck the knife in midweek. you can guarantee utd will be up for this and will want to impress all over the pitch. with heinze and rio the nonsense should be cut out at the back and the mean edge restored.

liverpool are still vulnerable but now they have a classy style about their play. will be one of those nights that will be remembered no matter how it turns out.

2-0 utd i reckon.

smuckers

3-2 to Utd, its going to be close.

Big Ears

Ferdinand starting for the first time in 8 months , and its his first game in 8 months , thats crazy :eek: .

smuckers

Even with Rio returning, Utd's defensive frailties may still be exposed. Ferdinand will have to sort out the positional sense of his game which is his biggest flaw.

alfie

I think garcia will be the key for liverpool will keane stick with him or will he leave him to one of the centre halves, if he sticks with him it will give gerrard more freedom, if he leaves him for the centre halves he could loose them easily by dropping deep. Ferdinand hasnt played in 8months his match fitness wont be up to scratch for this game as it will be a very high temp game. My prediction 2 - 1 liverpool.

smemon

Big Ears wrote:

Ferdinand starting for the first time in 8 months , and its his first game in 8 months , thats crazy :eek: .

true but its looks like that, better to start sooner rather than later. after all, he cant be worse than the defence in recent games can he?!

plus rio's be training regularly along with the squad, if anything he's in better condition than 8 months ago. match fitness is the only problem but he's a big player and has played big matches before, it could well be himself and brown in defence with heinze on the left, o'shea on the right.

Dub13

The one worry I have as a Liverpool fan is maybe this game has come to soon.Rafa has not had long or to many games to put his stamp on how we play.But I still think (hope) we will shade it.

Anybody no why they are playing this on a Monday...?its abit strange if you ask me,I cannot remember the last time a big game was on a Monday Night.

smuckers

Dub13 wrote:

The one worry I have as a Liverpool fan is maybe this game has come to soon.Rafa has not had long or to many games to put his stamp on how we play.But I still think (hope) we will shade it.

Anybody no why they are playing this on a Monday...?its abit strange if you ask me,I cannot remember the last time a big game was on a Monday Night.

Because it was moved to the Mon to allow Ferdinand to return.

Drag00n79

smuckers wrote:

Because it was moved to the Mon to allow Ferdinand to return.

That's right. I read somewhere that it was originally meant to be played on Saturday lunchtime but Sky moved it when they realised it would be Ferdinand's first match back.

mike65

Rooney won't be playing if you belive this But might be if you read this

I don't think Utds defence will withstand Liverpools attack, should be goals on both sides though.

Man Utd 2 - 3 Liverpool

Mike.

The Muppet

This is still Uniteds biggest league game of the season for me. I would rather it came later in the season as that would have given Rio and Rooney time to get match fit. It's always a good game and both teams are always up for it. I think it will be a close game and a 1 1 scoreline would not surprise me.

Thanx 4 The Fish

2-2 Garcia and Cisse to score fro the pool, Ruud to knock in a couple for ManYoo

Pacifico

Too close to call this one!

2-1 Liverpool, Gerrard, Cisse, Van the man with the one for united i'd say..

mayordenis

Dub13 wrote:

Anybody no why they are playing this on a Monday...?its abit strange if you ask me,I cannot remember the last time a big game was on a Monday Night.

erm i dunno liverpool 4 newcastle 3 was that not on a monday best match ive watched live without a doubt.

PHB

I obviously am gona go for a United win, with the defence holding solid, howard giving a goal, but united scoring two

I'm praying that Fergie will use a 4-4-2 formation instead of a 4-5-1, with scholes and keano in the middle, and smith and vnist up front, and rooney coming on later for smith if needed.

super_furry

The midfield will be key for me and on current form, I can't see United's cope with Gerrard and Alonso. Garcia could prove to be critical, but with van Nistelrooy coming back to fitness and Ferdinand likely to start, it's going to be interesting.

3-1 Liverpool.

Dub13

mayordenis wrote:

erm i dunno liverpool 4 newcastle 3 was that not on a monday best match ive watched live without a doubt.

It was a Monday Night game but how long ago was it...?back then they used to have some big games on a monday night but since the Champions League got extended not many of the big games have been on a Monday.In fact I would go as far and say Sky only seem to use the Monday night slot to fill there commitment to show a certain amount of games from all clubs.


I think alot of will depend on how Rio plays and if he will last the 90min,as for Liverpool they will not just sit back as they did in the GH "bad old days".

leeroybrown

I wouldn't be overly worried about Ferdinand's fitness but I would be concerned about his sharpness and speed of thought in his first few games back. Anywhere I've een him quoted he's said that he's been training harder than he was doing while getting regular matches so that should see him through, but theres very little that can replace that sharpness of mind that playing regularly gives you.

I think that Liverpool are far from the finished article Benitez is working towards and have some weaknesses (Cisse helping the offside trap, Kewell looking like he hasn't trained ever, ...) and more importantly theres no Danny Murphy jinx. I'll be optimistic and say United by the odd goal: 3 - 2.

jesus_thats_gre

I normally have a very strong feeling before this fixture but this season I do not know what to think...

United obviously have problems in defence and in my opinion are missing something in midfield.. I cannot remember United's looking so weak going into this fixture before yet I am still worried they are going to pull an amazing performance out of the bag.. Their striking options will make the difference i think as this is where are obviously the strongest.. While United are possibly at their weakest for along long time, Liverpool are very much still in a period of transition. A new manager, new players, formation and a totally new style of play all point in the right direction but I feel it just might be too soon for Benitez and Liverpool.. Mind you, if it came later in the season, we could be facing a much stronger United.

So both teams go into this game not as they would like so fair is fair. My mind is telling me that Liverpool should be able to give United a good kicking but I just feel that United are going to get a few breaks and pull something out of nowhere..

Drag00n79

Hard to call a scoreline on this but I am expecting a few goals. Paddy Power is offering 5/2 on a 'Pool win. I like Garcia's odds to score first (11/1). Don't see odds on Rooney to be the last goalscorer but might be worth a flutter, if the rumours about him on the bench are correct.

Raskolnikov

It could be anything from a scrappy 0-0 draw to a five goal-thriller, I wouldn't dare to call it. What is clear though, is that United are already ten points behind Arsenal and eight behind Chelsea. Anything less than a win and Man U can forget about the title. I can't see Arsenal and/or Chelsea suddenly collapsing in the way that Newcastle did a few years back.

Ferguson has lost the plot I'm afraid, instead of finding a Keano replacement or strengthening the centre of midfield he squandered his money on Rooney. I wonder how long it'll take United fans to start calling for his head.

smemon

Raskolnikov wrote:

It could be anything from a scrappy 0-0 draw to a five goal-thriller, I wouldn't dare to call it. What is clear though, is that United are already ten points behind Arsenal and eight behind Chelsea. Anything less than a win and Man U can forget about the title. I can't see Arsenal and/or Chelsea suddenly collapsing in the way that Newcastle did a few years back.

Ferguson has lost the plot I'm afraid, instead of finding a Keano replacement or strengthening the centre of midfield he squandered his money on Rooney. I wonder how long it'll take United fans to start calling for his head.

heard it all before. 'squandered' money on a player who hasnt kicked a ball yet suggests your opinions are cemented and will utd to do bad. forget about the title with 5/6 games gone? yes theres only 32/3 left, only a possible 99 points on the table.

we've lost 1 game which is all im concerned about, i'll take draws as they all add up. indeed its lack of draws that cost us the title a couple of times, we usually win or lose. wont take a draw tomorrow though! we must go all out for the win and a convincing one at that.

jesus_thats_gre

So you are saying that United are not lacking players in defence and midfield when compared to their strikers? The problems in defence should be resolved with the Ferdinand comeback but the midfield is still seriously lacking..

The United team is based around a player who is not definetly nearing the end of his career and seems to lost alot of his motivation. 30 million did not need to be spent on another striker as United already had 3 world class strikers.. They just about have three world class players throughout the rest of the squad to be honest. 30 million would have been better spent between 1 decent centre back and 1 decent central midfielder to replace Keane or someone to replace Giggs..

Not even you can deny this logic Smemon.. He is not saying it was squandered as such, he is saying the money should have been spent on other positions.. In the long term Rooney was the better choice but United need to address immediate problems in their current squad while also making smart buys now for the future. Rooney as a player is a smart buy for the future but not when his purchase sucks up the vast majority of Uniteds transfer kitty, thus prevented possible signings to address immediate problems..

kida

I can only see a United win and expect a stormer form Giggs, apparently Fergie has threatened a lot of players that there will be a mass clearout in January if they don't buck up. Giggs, O'Shea,Kleberson, Sylvestre,P Neville, Brown are all on the way out if they don't improve. United will get stuck in tonight and scare the sh!te out of the Liverpool new boys. 3-0 is my predicton. Keane & Fletcher will be CM with Scholes supporting Ruud, Ronaldo and Scholes on the wings. Rio and Sylvestre will be CB with Brown and Heinze FB.

dirkey_wynne

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

So you are saying that United are not lacking players in defence and midfield when compared to their strikers? The problems in defence should be resolved with the Ferdinand comeback but the midfield is still seriously lacking..

The United team is based around a player who is not definetly nearing the end of his career and seems to lost alot of his motivation. 30 million did not need to be spent on another striker as United already had 3 world class strikers.. They just about have three world class players throughout the rest of the squad to be honest. 30 million would have been better spent between 1 decent centre back and 1 decent central midfielder to replace Keane or someone to replace Giggs..

Not even you can deny this logic Smemon.. He is not saying it was squandered as such, he is saying the money should have been spent on other positions.. In the long term Rooney was the better choice but United need to address immediate problems in their current squad while also making smart buys now for the future. Rooney as a player is a smart buy for the future but not when his purchase sucks up the vast majority of Uniteds transfer kitty, thus prevented possible signings to address immediate problems..

Well put. As a Utd fan I totally agree. With all of that. Rooney will be a great signing for Utd, but the timing was all wrong. That money was needed to be spent elsewhere.

midget lord

Personally id prefer the theatre of silence to theatre of nightmares.

Anyway, im not going to get to see this tonight and im absolutely gutted. However i predict 2-0 to liverpool with Carragher to have a stormer at CB, SG and LG to play well. Its a big gamble from alex the alco to play Rio after so many months on the sideline and one that i can see going in liverpools favour.

Dub13

kida wrote:

I can only see a United win. 3-0 is my predicton.

If you really belive this will be the score I would pop down to your local paddy power shop as you would get great odds on that score.

Dub13

Rio Ban......Clarification of when deadline ended,According to Sky Sports His deadline ended midnight Sunday/Monday morning,So it looks like Sky did move the Game so he could play...the power of money.

midget lord

he cant honestly believe that.

Dub13

I hope Harry Kewell gets into the game he is not playing well at all this season.

His Form Dipped Since his wife died on Emmerdale,She obviously trying our Harry out now she doesn't have much on.

midget lord

then surely his fitness levels would be greater?

Kone

I have a feeling the pool will win... not sure about the score though!

The Rooster

I agree with kida re the united defence. I think it'll be O'Shea to lose out rather than Silvestre. Silvestre is the only one who has partnered Rio in the last 15 months (or thereabouts) and Heinze cannot speak English but can speak French - so MS on the left side of CB will help him.

Scholes and Giggs have been both been dire this year - look like they're not trying a leg - but I think it can be taken for granted they'll both put in good performances tonight. I cant see Smith being left out. Probably Keane and Scholes in centre midfield, with a possiblity Fletcher might get in with Scholes dropped and then very dangerous from the bench.

3 places up for grabs for Liverpool:

Hamann v Alonso - I thought he'd take the safer option of the German, but Benitez has been talking up Alonso over the weekend, so hopefully he'll stick with him.

Kewell v Warnock - Kewell hasnt been great, while Warnock has looked impressive. Benitez has also been talking up Harry over the w/e, so I expect he'll start, but he'd better show improvement or else he'll be warming the bench shortly.

Cisse v Baros -
Baros was definitely the more impressive v Monaco, but I think Cisse would probably be better against ManU. I'd love to see the two of them tried again with Garcia on one of the wings, but tonight may not be the appropriate time.

phenom

I am not vey keen on O'shea at the mo. He doesnt seem to be turning out the player i had hoped he would. Fergie has been moving him around in positions so maybe that is why he isnt playing that well.. I cannot see how anyone can say United are going to win 3-0. I doubt that very much. 2-1 or around that score would be my guess for the match.

Big Ears

For some reason I think this game will be extremely boring , especially to those non-Liverpool/Man United fans .

ButcherOfNog

i can see utd coming out all guns blazing and pool catching them on the break. depends on how many chances we put away in the first 20mins really, it could be over that quick .... tho perhaps utd will play with some degree if intelligence i'd guess a score draw, unlikely tho as they couldn't outthink houllier.

Ronan|Raven

Should be interesting as always. Liverpool are still very much in their infancy under Benitez and it will take many more months before the team is close to playing as it should. Utd have their own problems at the moment but are as always dangerous with RVN and Smith up front will be a big threat forthe Liverpool back4. Giggs hasnt played well in a while and I fell make a good performance tonight. While Liverpool are playing better than last season in a way with a most attack minded passing game. I think UTD will take it 2-1.

EKRIUQ

Ferdinand playing like man of the match and the games only on 10 minutes!!!

Raskolnikov

1-0 Man U, Giggs free-kick, headed in by Silvestre.

Guy:Incognito

ive seen 10 yr olds defend crosses better than that, disgracefull

The Muppet

Thats the best 45 minutes of football I have seen uTD produce this season. Very creative and attacking football while staying solid at the back. Rio looks like he was never away Heinze looks like quality and Brown is playing well at right back.

Liverpools defending has been abysmal and they are lucky to be only 1 down. Big blow losing Gerrard. Good game from a UTD fans viewpoint hoping for more of the same second half.

Raskolnikov

The Muppet wrote:

Thats the best 45 minutes of football i have seen uTD produce this season. Very Creative and attacking football g while staying solid at teh back. Rio looks like he was never away heinze looks like quality and Brown is playing well at right back.

Liverpools defending has been abysmal and they are lucky to be only 1 down. Big blow losing Gerrard. Good game from a UTD fans viewpoint hoping for more of the same second half.

Yep, seems like United are in control of this game, from what I can hear amidst the interference and static on the radio, O' Shea seems to be having a great game. Will also be interesting to see if Carroll will keep his place for the next game if he keeps a clean sheet for this game.

Ronan|Raven

Liverpool are terrible and deserve to be 1-0 down if not more. Only pure luck preventing it from being so. They are unable to string any passes together and are looking very shaky defensively. Liverpool need to change something or else it could end up a rout.

BKtje

After the disappointments and frustration of the last month or 2 this is the kind of lay that i love to see from Man u. Quick sharp and o so very dangerous.

Rondaldo is running riot even with Kewel helping Riise. Giggs is playing decently and O'Shea is looking dangerous when the ball is crossed in. Rio looks very sharp, confident and fit. Van Nistlebop is looking good as well with instant reactions almost getting him a goal.

Ronaldo's run when he hit the post just seemed tog on forever. Liverpool just couldnt get the ball offa him it seemed. Very good shot which had Dudek well beaten.

Lets hope for more of the same and im really hoping this kick starts Man u's season.

mike65

Ha-haaaaaaaaaaaa! O'shea O-G

sorry!

Mike.

Pacifico

Good man Johno

1-1. Liverpool played well for about 5 mins

mike65

FFS! Not watching only listening but the defence sounds at sea.

Mike.

Guy:Incognito

woefull poxy defending. This is ridiculous. they may as well not bother trying to defend any ball put into the box