Clash of empires not one to miss

The temptation to bill tomorrow’s meeting of Manchester United and Liverpool as a clash of red empires is almost irresistible — with no prizes for guessing which red empire is on the rise and which in decline.

Only serving to make a bad season even more miserable for United is the knowledge that their fiercest rivals are in with at least a fighting chance of landing their first title since 1990. When Alex Ferguson first fetched up at Old Trafford, he famously made it known that an essential part of the business to hand would be about “knocking Liverpool off their fucking perch”. Now the boot is on the other foot, even if Brendan Rodgers would never express himself in such colourful terms.

Of course, finding themselves in the ignominious position of being cast in the role of underdogs – and on their home turf to boot — could galvanise United tomorrow and help them produce the kind of performance which David Moyes keeps insisting is within their grasp. But whatever the outcome of this one game, the sense of the pendulum beginning to swing decisively back west along the M62 is hard to ignore.