High alert for battle of the Reds

As rivalries between clubs not from the same city go, they do not get much bigger than the one shared by Manchester United and Liverpool, wh...

As rivalries between clubs not from the same city go, they do not get much bigger than the one shared by Manchester United and Liverpool, who meet in the Premier League at Anfield on Sunday.

Ahead of the 138th league clash between England’s two most popular and successful clubs, United manager Alex Ferguson has accepted that the balance of power between the two sides may be shifting back in favour of Liverpool.

Over the last half a century both clubs have enjoyed periods of domination, with United claiming 12 titles and Liverpool 13. Liverpool’s dominance reached its peak in the late 1970s and 1980s before United wrested domestic control in the 1990s.

But with four successive premier league wins over their Manchester rivals — including a 3-1 victory at Anfield last season — the Merseysiders may be overtaking the Old Trafford side once again. Liverpool are second in the premier league — a point behind Arsenal and five ahead of fifth-placed United — and Ferguson has conceded they have made progress under Frenchman Gerard Houllier.

“I think Arsenal and Liverpool have improved and I don’t think we are meeting our expectation at this moment in time,” Ferguson said. “I think Arsenal and Liverpool have built up very big squads. In particular Liverpool have built a strong and athletic squad. In the summer they bought four more players.