Neil Humphreys: Why so much hinges on Man United v Liverpool
Outcome at Old Trafford on Sunday will have long-lasting impact for both clubs, and potentially Man City
In Singapore alone, they separate fathers and sons. They turn brother against brother. They alienate. They divide. But they always conquer.
Manchester United and Liverpool games simply matter more than any other. They always have. But the Old Trafford encounter on Sunday goes beyond white-heat tribalism.
Whatever the result, the repercussions for both clubs and the English Premier League will be felt for years to come.
| MAN UNITED | LIVERPOOL |
United against Liverpool promises to be the butterfly effect writ large, with its impact felt in the furthest flung corners of the game.
Ninety minutes are about to make or break careers.
For United's interim manager, the scenario is relatively straightforward. Defeat the Reds and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer gets the full-time gig.
In a matter of three months, the Norwegian has transformed the dressing room from the winter of discontent to the summer of love, full of peace and harmony.
More than that, he's got the world interested in United again, a near-priceless achievement for his employers and the English Premier League generally.
When these two sides met last December, it was a real struggle to care. United were in freefall and Jose Mourinho was engaged in another destructive war with imagined enemies. Liverpool ran out 3-1 winners at Anfield and Mourinho was run out of Old Trafford two days later.
As Solskjaer's purple patch continues, it's easy to forget what a laborious chore United games had become and he arguably deserves Liverpool's scalp for rekindling interest.
English football thrives when there's a swashbuckling United side to love and loathe in equal measure. The Red Devils and their enemies complete each other.
Should Solskjaer win and potentially deny Liverpool the title, he's a done deal. If he doesn't, then the spectre of Mauricio Pochettino reappears and United's uncertainty endures, delaying the club's rebuilding process.
Juergen Klopp's position, on the other hand, is more complex, perhaps unfairly. Liverpool's manager finds himself in the invidious position of constantly defending his side's most successful campaign in years.
PATIENCE
Like a durable night watchman, he keeps batting away talk of blips, wobbles and weekly crises with remarkable patience. He's lost only once all season.
If nothing else, Klopp is likely to become the first Reds boss since Kenny Dalglish to finish above United more than once.
A victory on Sunday will send Liverpool back to the EPL summit and all is well on Merseyside.
But there are still murmurs of uncertainty. History is against Liverpool and their manager. Klopp can't win at Old Trafford. The Reds can't win at Old Trafford.
Their awful record eats away at self-confidence. They've failed to win at United since Brendan Rodgers' 3-0 triumph in March 2014. One victory in 12 visits in all competitions is the stuff of title collapses.
Plus, there's a nagging sense that the mythical gegenpressing routines are showing signs of mortality. Liverpool are no longer quite so hot off the press.
In midweek, Bayern Munich coach Niko Kovac pilfered a page from Pep Guardiola's copybook, sending the Germans around Liverpool's midfield to avoid being caught on the counter-attack.
Manchester City did something similar in their 0-0 draw in October, learning from past defeats, where they tried to press through the middle. City and Bayern probed with their fullbacks. When they lost possession, they weren't punished.
Solskjaer has the option of deploying Luke Shaw and Romelu Lukaku on one side and Ashley Young and Marcus Rashford on the other to similar effect.
Like City and Bayern, United have the resources to get around the gegenpressing.
Worst of all for Klopp, they are Manchester United. They will dredge the tanks to find something extra. They will go beyond simply to spite their opponents.
Good, old-fashioned hate is a most powerful accelerant.
For weeks now, Red Devils fans have admitted that they'll happily fall out of the top four as long as Liverpool fall short in the title race, but they should be careful what they wish for.
The Old Trafford clash has consequences beyond the short-term ambitions of myopic followers. The real winners could be the mob across the road.
Liverpool have lost once all season and are still second, behind a state-sponsored jewel box of glittering gems.
Imagine what another defeat will do for the Anfield psyche. Does anyone seriously expect a second City blip?
The Reds may never get this close to overhauling Guardiola's dandies again. Perhaps no one will. Old Trafford offers either a launchpad for City's fledgling dynasty or a stumbling block.
Either way, there is so much more at stake than just three points.
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