Rooney sends a cross in, again cleared by Liverpool.
Hernandez finds Berbatov in the area, who gets it back to Giggs.
Giggs sends a cross into Hernandez in the center, and he heads it into the far post for a consolation goal. 3-1.
United makes another run up the left, but Hernandez is cut out near the corner.
The referee blows for full time. 3-1.
90′, Liverpool 3-0: Rooney gets a shot off from the left which Reina saves. Carrick gets to the rebound, but his attempt to tee up Berbatov results in a United retreat.
Eventually, the attack ends in a Reina goal kick after Giggs mishits a cross.
Suarez comes off for Joe Cole — great day for Suarez. He’s given a loud applause as he walks off the pitch.
Lucas’ free kick tees up Gerrard from distance, and his shot is just off target, hitting the outside of the right post.
87′, Liverpool 3-0: Brown tackles Suarez above the area. He gets the ball, but he also gets Suarez, and the Uruguayan goes down with an injury.
He eventually gets back up and trots off the pitch in pain, but comes back on soon thereafter.
He then makes a great run down the right, beating Rooney, Evra and Brown, but his final shot from the right is way off.
84′, Liverpool 3-0: Gerrard attempts to pick out Carroll in the area, but his through ball is deflected.
United comes back up the pitch, and O’Shea wins a corner from Johnson on the right.
The corner is poor and Gerrard clears at the near post.
On the release, Scholes trips Suarez and gets his typical yellow.
Fletcher comes on for Scholes thereafter.
81′, Liverpool 3-0: Carroll makes his first major contribution, controlling a cross with his head and teeing up Kuyt for a shot, but his effort is too high.
United comes forward, but they fail to generate much danger despite possession in the final third, and Liverpool clears all the way to Van der Sar.
78′, Liverpool 3-0: The set piece is partially cleared, but Lucas is called for another foul on the direct right of the area. Giggs sends it well past the far post for a goal kick.
The Kop sings Dalglish Happy Birthday, and he smiles and waves — surely he’s having quite the celebration.
O’Shea on for Rafael.
75′, Liverpool 3-0: Andy Carroll makes his entrance for Meireles, a debut on quite the day at Anfield.
He immediately wins a header, but it isn’t a threat to Van der Sar.
After a rush in the other direction, Carrick is called for handball.
Rooney is fouled by Lucas above the area, and after an initial advantage call, the referee whistles back for the set piece — which is again too close for a good shot.
72′, Liverpool 3-0: Liverpool has now come back into the game as far as possession is concerned, not sitting behind the ball as to protect a tenuous lead.
Rooney gets a cross in from the left, but Kyrgiakos cuts it out. After the partial clearance, Carrick sends a ball in for Hernandez and Rooney, but neither can get to it.
69′, Liverpool 3-0: United again goes on the attack, but Gerrard cuts Evra out well in the area.
Kuyt wins a free kick in midfield off the clearance.
Rodriguez nearly finds Kuyt in the area, but Carrick cuts it out for a corner.
The corner is cleared, and on the counter, Gerrard clips Hernandez in midfield. Berbatov is flagged for offside off the restart.
66′, Liverpool 3-0: Brown fouls Kuyt in a dangerous area — in shooting range slightly to the right above the area.
The shot is a great one, low and to the near post. Van der Sar can’t control it, and Kuyt cleans up for a HAT TRICK. 3-0!
63′, Liverpool 2-0: Meireles nearly scores off a through pass in the left side of the area, but Van der Sar does well to save it and Evra clears.
60′, Liverpool 2-0: Berbatov makes a good run on the right and picks out Rooney, but his shot is blocked — he should’ve taken it sooner.
Skrtel concedes a corner to United on the right. The corner is too high but Rooney retreives it. The cross is sent back to Hernandez who finds Berbatov at the far post, but Meireles clears his header off the line — it may have been a hand.
Kyrgiakos fouls Berbatov right on the edge of the area dead center. Giggs tries to go over the wall, but he can’t get it down.
57′, Liverpool 2-0: Scholes sends a diagonal for Rooney, who tees up Giggs in the center, but his shot is slightly too high.
United keep the pressure and possession, but Liverpool continue to cover pretty well.
Rafael sends a cross in, but Kyrgiakos cuts it out and Suarez wins a throw in midfield.
54′, Liverpool 2-0: United has another chance to counter after a Suarez-Meireles attack is cut out.
Rooney is fouled in midfield by Lucas, and United goes forward and sets up the attack.
Kuyt fouls Evra on the left in the final third, but out of range.
Eventually, Johnson tackles it away from Giggs and Liverpool comes forward. Meireles sends a ball for Kuyt, but Van der Sar gets to it.
51′, Liverpool 2-0: Gerrard takes a shot from distance, but it is blocked as Liverpool now is on the front foot. Suarez does some tricky work in the box to find Meireles at the near post, but Van der Sar prevents any real shot.
On the counter, Berbatov finds Hernandez in the area, but Kyrgiakos prevents him from getting a shot away.
The sides trade possession, and United has a series of throws on the right.
United has a chance to run, but Rooney can’t quite pick out Hernandez or Berbatov, who were free.
48′, Liverpool 2-0: United starts the half on the attack — Rooney is now on the left with Hernandez in the center.
Liverpool clears repeatedly, and Lucas sends a nice ball for Suarez, which forces Smalling to concede a throw.
Eventually, it goes back to Reina for a clearance, and United controls in midfield — a disjointed start to things.
Half, Liverpool 2-0:
Yellow cards: Carragher, Van der Sar, Skrtel, Rafael
Hernandez on for Nani — injured by Carragher
Rafael makes a nice run forward through the center, but he can’t pick out a final ball for Rooney.
Meireles has space on the right side for a run, but he can’t quite control it and United goes forward again.
Carragher fouls Nani, a clear yellow, and a pushing match involving whole teams ensues.
Nani gets up and then goes back down, somewhat oddly. The Carragher challenge was really poor. Van der Sar gets a yellow for continual arguing.
Nani is now very upset, and the stretcher is out on the pitch.
Action restarts, and Rafael fouls Lucas very heavily, and the teams now begin to push one another again, Skrtel particularly. Both Skrtel and Rafael are issued yellows. Maxi also was involved, going studs up on Rafael right before his challenge on Lucas.
Hernandez is now on for Nani.
42′, Liverpool 2-0: United come forward with a decent spell of pressure before Rafael’s cross to the far post misses everybody.
The teams exchange possession thereafter.
39′, Liverpool 2-0: United concede possession in their own half, and Lucas has a chance to run into the area with the ball. Smalling cuts him out well.
The goal can in fact be credited to Kuyt, who tapped it in after a deflection off the defender.
Suarez sends a cross across the post, which Nani heads the wrong direction, back to the near post.
He gives it right to Kuyt, and he scores easily. Goal! 2-0.
36′, Liverpool 1-0: Liverpool rush forward again, and Rodriguez slips into the area, forcing Van der Sar to clear for a corner.
United clears, but Liverpool wins another corner through Suarez on the left shortly thereafter.
Van der Sar is fouled on the corner.
33′, Liverpool 1-0: United can’t clear off the throw, and they concede a corner on the right.
Kyrgiakos gets a head to it, but he’s well away from goal, and his header is partially cleared.
Scholes is called for a foul above the area, going for a ball near Lucas.
Suarez taps it to Gerrard, who slips it low into the area, but it goes for a corner, which United clears partially, but Liverpool keeps it in.
The ball ends up on the right, and Suarez beats just about everybody on a run to the post. He sends it across goal through Van der Sar’s legs, and the ball deflected in. Goal! 1-0 Liverpool.
30′, 0-0: Suarez concedes a free kick in the United half. Rooney and Berbatov make a run forward, and Rooney finds Berbatov in the area, but he’s flagged for offside — he wasn’t.
United have begun to have the upper hand, after an initial period of Liverpool dominance.
Suarez and Evra get into it near the right corner, with Evra winning a throw. Phil Dowd talks to both players, who have begun to get heated.
27′, 0-0: United has another attack down the left, but Evra fouls Gerrard at the edge of the area.
The teams exchange possession, with United winning a couple of throws on their right in midfield. Liverpool controls, and a couple of balls are sent forward, but United clears and Berbatov makes a run up the right. Eventually, though, he comes offside on a Scholes pass.
24′, 0-0: United attacks down the left with Giggs and Evra, and Evra beats Johnson for a corner.
Aurelio has gone down with a hamstring injury, and it appears that Kyrgiakos will come on, which alters the formation at the back significantly.
The corner is well taken and finds Brown at the near post, but nothing comes of it. Carragher is now on the right, Johnson on the left, and Skrtel and Kyrgiakos in the center.
21′, 0-0: United comes forward down the right through Nani and Rafael, but they are forced to retreat to midfield.
Rooney commits a foul on a throw, and the teams exchange in midfield, before Liverpool comes forward and attacks right. Suarez crosses, but nobody is in the area.
18′, 0-0: United comes forward quickly, and Berbatov takes a one-touch shot from above the area. He curls it far post, beats Reina, but hits the woodwork, almost scoring out of nowhere.
United win possession off the goal kick, but Liverpool wins it back and Suarez makes a great run on the right. He sends a ball for Meireles in the area, and he gets a head to it at the far post, sending it back towards Kuyt at the near post, but Van der Sar gets there first — barely.
15′, 0-0: Johnson has a chance forward, but Evra cuts him out well and gets it forward to Berbatov, who puts an easy shot on target which Reina saves.
Going the other direction, a ball is played for Suarez, but he can’t reach it, and United clears back to midfield.
A ball for Kuyt in the area is last-minute cut out by Smalling — there were other Reds in the area too.
Lucas finds Kuyt on a good ball to the right, and a corner is conceded. The set piece is cleared and Johnson fouls Nani in midfield.
12′, 0-0: Brown fouls Suarez in midfield, but United ultimately clears, and Scholes sends one of his long diagonals forward for Berbatov.
Carragher does well, but United keeps possession in midfield. A ball forward is headed poorly by Skrtel, giving Giggs a chance in the area, but he mishits the attempt.
United, though, continue their extended spell of possession before Giggs fails to pick out Rafael on a run on the right.
9′, 0-0: A good run from Johnson is cut out by Brown, but Liverpool controls in midfield before United does some nervy clearing in their own area.
Scholes has a rare misplaced pass that leads to Suarez trying to catch Van der Sar off his line, but his shot is well off.
Patrice Evra goes down with the ball right above the area, but no foul is given, and Liverpool clears to midfield.
6′, 0-0: Liverpool keeps the pressure on, attacking from deep in the United side dangerously.
Eventually, United escapes and gets the ball back up to the Liverpool half.
Liverpool comes right back forward, and Maxi has space on the right, but he shoots poorly from above the area — goal kick.
Liverpool wins a throw off the goal kick, and then Kuyt wins another on the left side, but United clears.
Berbatov and Nani make a nice run on the left, but Nani runs out of room and gives up a goal kick.
3′, 0-0: The teams begin by exchanging the ball on United’s left flank before Suarez is fouled by Smalling in midfield.
The Reds reset and build from the back, but lose out in their own half.
This, though, leads to a counter orchestrated by Maxi and Suarez. Meireles crosses it in from the right and finds Suarez, but he can’t get enough on the shot from center to beat Van der Sar.
8:15 a.m. ET: Andy Carroll has been named on the bench. Kickoff is just 15 minutes away.
4 a.m. ET: Just hours after replacing Roy Hodgson as Liverpool manager, Kenny Dalglish was faced with the unenviable task of leading a struggling Liverpool squad into Old Trafford for an FA Cup match.
Now, he’ll be facing off against Sir Alex Ferguson under far different circumstances, as the fellow Glasgow native will bring the Red Devils into Anfield on Sunday without his two first-choice center backs. This time around, Dalglish will also have the additional luxury of Luis Suarez at his disposal, and Andy Carroll could make his Liverpool debut as well.
A rare occurrence as far as English football’s biggest rivalry is concerned, both sides are coming into the matchup off a loss. Manchester United fell for just the second time this season on Tuesday at Stamford Bridge, while the Reds also were beaten in London, losing 3-1 to West Ham at Upton Park last Sunday.
A win would put United six points clear at the top of the table. For Liverpool, a win would be necessary to put the Reds back into Europa League contention, as a strong run of form from Bolton Wanderers has seen the Trotters rise to sixth in the table with 40 points.
Kickoff is set for 8 a.m. ET. Lineups are as follows:
Liverpool:
Pepe Reina (25), goalkeeper
Martin Skrtel (37), center back
Jamie Carragher (23), center back
Fabio Aurelio (6), left back
Glen Johnson (2), right back
Lucas (21), midfielder
Steven Gerrard (8), midfielder
Luis Suarez (7), left wing
Maxi Rodriguez (17), right wing
Dirk Kuyt (18), forward
Raul Meireles (4), forward
Substitutes:
Joe Cole (10)
Christian Poulsen (28)
Sotirios Kyrgiakos (16)
David Ngog (24)
Andy Carroll (9)
Peter Gulacsi (42)
Jay Spearing (26)
Manchester United:
Edwin van der Sar (1), goalkeeper
Wes Brown (6), center back
Chris Smalling (12), center back
Patrice Evra (3), left back
Rafael (21), right back
Paul Scholes (18), midfielder
Michael Carrick (16), midfielder
Ryan Giggs (11), left wing
Nani (17), right wing
Wayne Rooney (10), forward
Dimitar Berbatov (9), forward
Substitutes:
John O’Shea (22)
Darren Fletcher (24)
Tomasz Kuszcak (29)
Darron Gibson (28)
Gabriel Obertan (26)
Fabio (20)
Javier Hernandez (14)
