Roles reversed as mediocre Liverpool put Rodgers in the firing line

Nine months after David Moyes controversially, and fatally, claimed Liverpool were ‘favourites’ when they visited Old Trafford in March, Manchester United have finally regained their self respect – and some of their lost stature – with a revenge victory that now puts Brendan Rodgers under the microscope instead.

Moyes’ comments in the build-up to that game last season did almost as much as the result – a 3-0 drubbing that seemed to confirm Liverpool as serious title contenders and United as mid-table fodder — to usher in the end of his spell in charge before he had any real chance to make an impact as Alex Ferguson’s replacement.

His words, not surprisingly, were greeted with disbelief not only in Manchester but also on Merseyside where an astonished Rodgers insisted: “I would never say that at Liverpool even if I was bottom of the league”.