Old Trafford, Manchester
Sunday 16th March 2014 – KO 13:30 GMT – Live on Super Sport
Referee: Mark Clattenburg, Assistants: S Beck and G Beswick, Fourth Official: L Probert
Manchester United face their old rivals
Liverpool at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon. This is the match that
United really need to win to keep their quest for a UEFA Champions
League spot next season on target. A loss would mean they could be even
further away from the fourth spot, which is the minimum then need to
finish in to qualify for the European elite competition for their 22nd
consecutive season.
In our last match, United played the
best football they have played in 2014 scoring three goals and with
midfield pairing Michael Carrick and Marouane Fellaini proving to be a
good partnership, which we have not really seen because of injuries to
both at some stages this season. The victory lifted the spirits of the
players, manager, coaching staff and more importantly the clubs
supporters, who have stuck by the manager this season, which he is
thankful for. United are in a period of transition and hopefully this
summer will fill some of the cracks and allow the side to get back to
challenging for the title, amongst other things.
The rise of Liverpool this season is
quite a shock and it just shows that a manager under fire can come back
and surprise in their second season, so Moyes should at least be given
that chance as people seem to expect too many miracles in the first
season. The facts are United were left in a tough position by Sir Alex
Ferguson. Three of the back four were ageing, the midfield was not
creative, but the attacking players were of a top quality. The lack of
rebuilding over the past few seasons has finally caught up. Each of the
teams above United have continued to build sides, which has left United
behind this season, but it is not as bad as it could have been.
David Moyes confirmed today that Rafael
da Silva, Jonny Evans and Javier Hernandez were all fit and could play a
part in the match against Liverpool. The only injury problem is Nani,
who has been sidelined with a hamstring injury for three months, but he
has returned to training, so for the first time I can remember this
season, there are no injuries to worry about (touch wood). Liverpool
were boosted with the fact that both Lucas Leiva and Mamadou Sakho could
both be fit, which leaves José Enrique as the only serious doubt for
the match.
Luis Suárez and Daniel Sturridge have
scored 45 goals between them in all competitions this season, which
means United’s back four and the midfield need to keep them both
contained, but with goals across the squad, United do need to be at
their best, The Liverpool side beat Arsenal 5-1 a matter of weeks ago,
which needs to be kept in the back of your mind, as the same could
happen to United, which would be devastating. Robin van Persie and Wayne
Rooney only have 28 goals between them in all competitions, but with
Danny Welbeck scoring his tenth goal last weekend, it does show the
quality we have in the side. The likes of Juan Mata and Adnan Januzaj
will also provide some great attacking between them, which could be the
difference on Sunday. Hopefully United take all three points, but I
think it will be a close match.
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