Liverpool v Manchester United Betting Preview

Manchester United are looking to bounce back to winning ways with a win over local rivals Liverpool this Sunday afternoon.

The Red Devils lost their second game of the season on Tuesday night as Chelsea came from behind to take all three points and blow the title race wide open. And to make matters worse Nemanja Vidic was sent off in the dying minutes to compound Sir Alex Ferguson’s defensive problems.

Both Rio Ferdinand and Jonny Evans have been sidelined in recent weeks through injury and are likely to face late fitness tests before it is decided whether they will play at Anfield.

Kenny Dalglish has ruled out Martin Kelly and Jonjo Shelvey while the manager pulled short of saying that Andy Carroll would make his debut but didn’t rule out the possibility.

Liverpool currently occupy sixth place in the Premier League table and have faint aspirations of making a late push for a top four finish. However, their main incentive going in to this game will be to halt United’s pursuit of a record-breaking 19th English football league title.

Both Liverpool and Manchester United have won English football’s premier prize 18 times each in their illustrious histories and until the midweek defeat from Chelsea the Red Devils looked on course to pull one ahead of their foes. If Liverpool can take something from this game then it may not be such a formality.

Despite home advantage the bookmakers make Liverpool the slight outsiders in the betting at odds of 15/8 while United can be backed at 13/8 and the draw is 23/10.

Dimitar Berbatov was dropped to the bench on Tuesday at the expense of Javier Hernandez. But given the ultimate outcome was a negative one Ferguson is likely to revert to the Bulgarian’s power and panache at the expense of the youngster’s pace this weekend.

Berbatov is 6/1 to open the scoring here while Wayne Rooney is 11/2. Andy Carroll is 7/1 to open the scoring on his debut, should he start, and fellow January signing Luis Suarez is 6/1 in the same market.

If United can bounce back with a win here they will not only extend their gap at the top but also deal a psychological blow to the chasing pack who will be hoping that the defeat at Stamford Bridge proves to be the catalyst for United’s downfall.