THERE is no getting away from the delicious sub-plot at Anfield tomorrow.

MANCHESTER UNITED manager Alex Ferguson has denied a charge of improper conduct, the FA last night confirmed.

CARLO ANCELOTTI has refused to condemn Alex Ferguson’s outburst towards referee Martin Atkinson after Chelsea’s controversial Premier League victory over Manchester United.

ARSENE WENGER has urged his Arsenal team to pounce on Manchester United’s slip-up in the Premier League title race.

MICK McCARTHY is on form. The one-liners are being delivered at such a prolific rate during his meeting with the media ahead of Sunday’s game against Tottenham, you can’t help but wonder if, when he pulled on the red of Barnsley for the first time 34 years ago, he entered the wrong profession.

BOHEMIANS shook off a winter of financial discontent with a spring in their step to easily outplay Bray Wanderers in their opening Airtricity Premier Division game of the season at the Carlisle Grounds.

MANCHESTER UNITED legend Eric Cantona claims his infamous kung fu-style kick on a Crystal Palace fan was the best memory of his career.

STEPHEN IRELAND is at the centre of another controversy today after allegedly declaring he would rather “shoot himself” than return and live in his native Cork.

ALEX FERGUSON has been charged with improper conduct by the Football Association.

TWO jewel-encrusted Faberge eggs created as tributes to Celtic hero Jimmy Johnstone and Manchester United’s George Best have sold for less than estimated.

ARSENE WENGER last night told Nicklas Bendtner to forget about facing Barcelona despite his sublime hat-trick in Arsenal’s cathartic victory over Leyton Orient.

MANCHESTER UNITED midfielder Michael Carrick has urged officials to get the big decisions right in important matches.

FERNANDO TORRES insists it was always going to take him time to settle at Chelsea as his search for his first goal for the club continues.

IT HAS been a long time coming but last night Chelsea, thanks to a controversial 80th-minute penalty winner from Frank Lampard, dramatically disrupted Manchester United’s title challenge and revived their own fractured season; lock, stock and two smoking barrels.

THE hardest question Carlo Ancelotti had to face as he desperately attempted to defend Ashley Cole’s shooting of a work experience boy with an air rifle — and his own decision not to sack him — came when he was asked: What action would the club have taken if it had been a member of staff firing at a player?

CARLING CUP hero Ben Foster has stressed the need for Birmingham to guarantee their Barclays Premier League status in the aftermath of their shock win over Arsenal in the final at Wembley.

CARLO ANCELOTTI insists a Chelsea victory over Manchester United tonight could be crucial to his side’s season, despite admitting they had almost no chance of catching the Barclays Premier League leaders.

FAR from elbowing Manchester United out of the title race, Wayne Rooney’s latest failure to control himself on the pitch may have helped Alex Ferguson’s quest for a 12thPremier League title.