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On Sunday, Manchester United will travel to Anfield to take on Liverpool, in a game that will attract attention from all four corners of the world.
However, some have had fears that the game could be overshadowed by the mocking of tragedies after a small section of Manchester United fans chanted songs that mocked the 1989 Hillsborough stadium disaster in which 96 Liverpool fans died, during the Red Devils’ match at home to Wigan last weekend.
In previous years, Liverpool fans have chanted offensive songs about the 1958 Munich air disaster. Both clubs have made attempts to encourage their fans to not chant any offensive songs.
As for the actual match, it’s an early, but important match in the Premier League season. Liverpool have endured a frustrating albeit difficult start to their league campaign having picked up a mere two points from four matches.
Brendan Rogers has got Liverpool’s passing stats up, but their defence has struggled, as has their goalkeeper Pepe Reina. The Spaniard made an error when he misread a corner against Manchester City to allow for Yaya Toure to score, while he failed to stop Santi Cazorla’s near post effort against Arsenal.
Both were crucial goals that a goalkeeper of Reina’s standard would normally be expected to deal with. A good performance from Liverpool’s central defenders (presumably Martin Skrtel and Daniel Agger) and Reina will reinstall the Kop faithful’s trust in the players.
One thing that has given many Liverpool fans encouragement this season, has been the performances of skillful Raheem Sterling. The Jamaican has been utilised as a right winger in a front three consisting of Fabio Borini and Luis Suarez.
At just 17, Sterling looks more than comfortable in the Premier League environment. Additionally, Luis Suarez has been a constant threat and has already scored twice this season, one being a cracking free kick against Manchester city.
As for Manchester United, they have had a mixed start. After suffering a disappointing 1-0 loss at the hands of Everton in their first game of the season, Manchester United have won their last three games.
However, none of these games have been plain sailing for the 19 times champions. In their 3-2 victory over Fulham, the west Londoners took the lead, and against Southampton, United needed two late Robin van Persie goals to over come a 2-1 deficit in order to win 3-2.
Just like Liverpool, Manchester United have somewhat struggled defensively. Many have questioned Nemanja Vidic’s fitness due to his defending against Fulham, Southampton and Everton, but his performance against Galatasaray in United’s 1-0 win in mid-week has reassured many that he is as good as he ever was. Also widely commended for their performances against Galatasaray were Shinji Kagawa, goalscorer Michael Carrick and David de Gea.
After suffering a horrific gash on his knee during a tackle in a match against Fulham at the end of August, Wayne Rooney still isn’t quite ready to return. Many expect Robin van Persie to once again lead the line as he did on Wednesday night against Galatasaray. Javier Hernandez, Danny Welbeck and possibly even Nick Powell who scored on his debut last week in the 4-0 win over Wigan, could all feature.
Possible starting XI’s
Liverpool: Reina, Kelly, Skrtel, Agger, Johnson, Allen, Gerrard, Shelvey, Borini, Sterling, Suarez
Manchester United: De Gea, Rafael, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Valencia, Carrick, Cleverley, Nani, Kagawa, Van Persie
Let’s hope for a magnificent game between these two giants of English football with no offensive chanting and no controversial incidents stemming from Luis Suarez’s racial abuse of Patrice Evra in this game last season.
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Written by Joshua Sodergren
Follow him on Twitter @chelsealad1365
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