Liverpool Vs. Manchester United: Injuries, Suspensions and Alex Ferguson's Rants

The mind games seem to have begun even before the match has started.

The north-west derby is considered to be one of the biggest matches on the Premier League calender and with the reappointment of Kenny Dalglish, the rivalry between two greats seems to have been reignited.

Lets take a look at Manchester United first. 

The major injury concerns for United seem to be in the defensive department. Johnny Evans is injured while Rio Ferdinand and Patrice Evra face late fitness tests for the match.

If both of them fail to recover, we might witness one of the least experienced defensive line-ups for United in the recent past with Chris Smalling, Wes Brown and the Da Silva twins managing the defensive duties—an opportunity that Luis Suarez might be relishing.

Liverpool seem to have problems of their own in terms of injuries.

Raul Meireles and Daniel Agger are doubtful for the match with both of them facing late fitness tests.

There have been rumors of Andy Carroll getting his Liverpool debut today, but no one seems to know the source of that information.

Kenny Dalglish is keeping everyone guessing on that one and if Liverpool does decide to line up its £58 million strike force, the duo may be a handful for the inexperienced defense of United.

However, there was news in the morning about Steven Gerrard aggravating his groin again in training and seems to be doubtful for the match. This might be a huge blow to the Liverpool team.

With Kenny in charge, there is no confirmation on any of these news and one would get to know the Starting XI only an hour before the match—a far cry from the Hodgson days when the playing 11 was known to the media a day in advance.

Whether these rumors are part mind-games or are true, one would only know that today afternoon.

However, one thing that is not in doubt is the absence of United captain Nemanja Vidic, who was sent off after a second yellow in the game against Chelsea. That is the biggest blow for Manchester United, 

The United fans may contest that sending off but it was the correct decision. Whether David Luiz deserved the same fate as Vidic is something that that can be debated.

Alex Ferguson blasted the referee after the match and finally FA woke up from its sleep and decided to summon him for the same. 

The same United manager was calling for respect for referee's decision when Rooney was spared of a suspension for elbowing McCarthy. 

He decided to boycott all media briefings, including the one for MUTV, as he claims that he is being treated unfairly. That is some claim for a United manager, who visibly gets most referee decisions in his favor. 

With so much going on off the field, one surely hopes that the match on the field is able to match the excitement going on off it.