All eyes on Suarez & Evra at Old Trafford Saturday
LONDON (SE) - All eyes will squarely be on Luis Suarez and Patrice Evra for Saturday's lunch-time kick-off at Old Trafford when Manchester United and Liverpool renew hostilities in the 158th league meeting between the sides.
Suarez returned for Monday night's goalless draw with Tottenham Hotspur after serving his eight-match ban for racially abusing Evra during a 1-1 draw with United at Anfield on Oct 15.
The Uruguay international has enjoyed the full support of manager Kenny Dalglish and the club, but will undoubtedly face a hostile atmosphere at Old Trafford, where Sir Alex Ferguson's side have won six of their last seven Premier League meetings against Liverpool.
Dalglish has issued a statement with the intention of returning the focus to football.
"Everyone involved, including the media, the supporters and both teams have a responsibility to ensure this weekend is remembered as a cracking game of football between two very good sides, rather than for anything else," Dalglish told Liverpool's official website.
The sides are meeting for the first time since Liverpool's 2-1 victory at Anfield on Jan. 28 in an FA Cup fourth-round clash as Dirk Kuyt scored the winner in the 88th minute. Evra was jeered throughout the match by Liverpool supporters.
The same fate awaits Suarez at Old Trafford.
"I'm sure people will want to talk about Luis Suarez, but he accepted his ban, served his suspension and returned against Spurs on Monday," Dalglish said. "It's time for all of us to draw a line under what happened and move forward."
Suarez's 24-minute cameo Monday was not without incident. He was booked for kicking Scott Parker in the stomach when attempting a close-range volley and felt he should have had a penalty for handball when actually he had used his own arm to control the ball.
The FA has said that it wants the pre-match handshakes to continue Saturday, and Liverpool believe that will not be a problem.
"People are already speculating on the pre-match ceremony, but from Luis's point of view we have spoken to him and I know he will shake the hand of Patrice Evra and the other Manchester United players before the game," Dalglish said.
Manchester United are two points behind leaders Manchester City in the table while Liverpool are seventh on 39 points.
"They're a club similar to us with massive history,'' United midfielder Ryan Giggs said. "We're the two most successful teams in the country, so we know we've got to perform and play well to get anything from any game against them."
United won their 19th Premier League title last season to move one ahead of Liverpool.
"Liverpool are the club we tried to catch for so long and now we've caught them the challenge is to stay ahead," Giggs told Manchester United's official website.
Wayne Rooney converted two penalties in last Sunday's fightback from three goals down for a 3-3 draw against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Rooney, however, has a poor strike rate with two goals in 16 league meetings with Liverpool.
If Suarez returns to the line-up, Dalglish must decide whether to send Andy Carroll or Craig Bellamy to the bench. Bellamy has scored six goals within the league to lead Liverpool.
