Liverpool v Manchester United: The Upcoming Game and the Season Ahead

Saturday, October 15th, 2011 marks one of the biggest fixtures of the English Premier League season. Liverpool take on Manchester United at Anfield.

This fixture is one of football's oldest and largest rivalries. With 118 trophy honors between the two teams, Liverpool (58) and Manchester United (60) are by far the most successful clubs in English football.

The travelling Mancunians will be looking to heap further misery on Liverpool fans after their club surpassed Liverpool as the No. 1 title-winning team in England last season. T-shirts emblazoned with "I was there when Man United knocked Liverpool off their perch" are now sold all around Manchester in a shameless taunt of their enemy.

Liverpool are a new-look team this season and results have reflected this. Good performances against Arsenal, Bolton and most recently Everton, have been marred by a slip-up at Stoke and a thrashing at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur.

Manchester United, on the other hand, have come out guns blazing. An incredible scoreline against Arsenal and another impressive victory against Bolton Wanderers has left the red half of Manchester sitting nicely atop the Barclays Premier League.

The Return of the King

There's no doubting Kenny Dalglish has rejuvenated Liverpool since the sacking of Roy Hodgson. No one understands "the Liverpool way" like Dalglish does. The fans love him and the results are vastly improved, but the defeat against Stoke was a warning that this Liverpool side may yet still fall short of a title challenge—particularly when the chance to bounce back against Tottenham Hotspur was thrown away in such a kamikaze fashion.

A win against Manchester United would make Kopites dream of the glory days once again, but it is essential to remember that this match is one out of 38 over the course of the season and a run of results is always preferential over a big-game victory.

Rafael Benitez had the best head-to-head record against Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal in Liverpool's 08-09 title charge, but still ended up finishing second due to slipping up in smaller games.

Liverpool's Heart Still Bleeds Red

Liverpool club captain Steven Gerrard will be expected to make his full return after being out for over six months following groin surgery. Both Gerrard and Jamie Carragher are entering the latter years of their playing days and are both running short on time if they are to ever hold aloft that elusive Premier League trophy.

Gerrard has made it public that the EPL is the one trophy he desires the most after winning practically every other competition there is in the modern game. Compare his trophy cabinet to the 12 EPL titles Ryan Giggs can showcase, and the dominance of Manchester United over the past decade and a half is plain for all to see.

Kenny Dalglish Unveils January Signings Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez

After a relatively quiet game for the most part, Andy Carroll finally opened his Premier League goal scoring account for the season against Everton. With Luis Suarez poaching a second after some woeful defending by Sylvain Distin, the two Liverpool new boys will be looking to forge a deadly partnership to strike fear into Premiership defences.

Injuries to Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Chris Smalling and Rafael have left Alex Ferguson facing a late decision on who will be starting in defence at Anfield.

Former Newcastle and England striker Alan Shearer has apparently come out recently and tipped Andy Carroll to be just as good a player as he was. Wayne Rooney is yet to even score half as many goals as Shearer did, which gives you an idea of the monumental task facing Carroll if he is ever to be compared to one of football's greats.

The Ultimate Ambition

Having not won the league since the 1989-90 season, Liverpool supporters are demanding the title be returned to Merseyside. Too long they have been made to suffer the indignation of watching their northwest rivals hold the title aloft. Liverpool's transfers this preseason have been strong. On a player-for-player analysis, you have to be happy:

Luis Suarez in for Fernando Torres

Andy Carroll in for Ryan Babel

Craig Bellamy in for David N'Gog

Charlie Adam in for Kristian Poulsen

Stewart Downing in for Milan Jovanovic 

Jordon Henderson in for Nabil El Zhar

Jose Enrique in for Paul Konchesky

Sebastian Coates in for Sotirios Kyrgiakos

Practically every loss has been strengthened this summer, and Liverpool fans no longer have to hide their shame with names such as Igor Biscan, Bruno Cheyrou and Andriy Voronin being embarassing memories of the pre-Dalglish past.

The Realistic Truth

As a former membership holder at Liverpool club (sadly given up when I moved to the US), I often get asked on my predictions for the upcoming season. My realistic view is that Liverpool will have to play exceptionally well to even gain a Champions League spot. The title already seems a two-horse race between Manchester clubs United and City, with Chelsea likely the third-place representatives.

Spurs, Liverpool and a weakened Arsenal are the only other real candidates for the all important fourth spot, but after our recent capitulation against Harry Redknapp's Tottenham and their admirable loan capture of Emmanuel Adebayor, I think they will be the team most likely.

So whilst I may be optimistic about beating Manchester United next weekend, I fear a fifth-place finish is what Liverpool shall ultimately achieve. For what it's worth, I hope Gerrard and co. make me eat my words.