06-03-2011 14:30 Liverpool - Manchester United

DID YOU KNOW?

Manchester United have not won at Anfield in the Premier League since December 2007 when Carlos Tevez scored the winner.

If Ryan Giggs features for United on Sunday he will be making a club record 607th league appearance for the Red Devils.

Wayne Rooney has scored five goals in his last five Premier League games and is just two goals short of a century of league goals for Manchester United.

Nemanja Vidic will miss the game through suspension but the Serbian has scored as many league goals as Steven Gerrard this season (four).

The Red Devils have won just four of their 14 Premier League away games this season and have lost two of their last three on their travels (at Chelsea and Wolves).

A win for Liverpool will make it three in a row at Anfield against United, having beaten their bitter rivals 2-0 last season and 2-1 in 2008.

Following the departure of Fernando Torres, Raul Meireles is now Liverpool’s top scorer in the Premier League with five goals, all coming since the departure of Roy Hodgson, the man who brought him to the club from Porto.

Kenny Dalglish will be taking on Sir Alex Ferguson for the 21st time as manager. The Liverpool boss has managed just four wins against his countryman so far.

Only Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal have won more games at home in the league this season than Liverpool.

Both Pepe Reina and Martin Skrtel have played in every single Premier League game for the Reds this season, the only two ever-presents for the Reds.

LAST MEETING

January 9, 2011: Manchester United 1-0 Liverpool

The two clubs met in the third of the FA Cup at Old Trafford with United emerging victorious courtesy of a second minute Ryan Giggs penalty after Dimitar Berbatov had been fouled.

Any hopes of a Liverpool fightback were effectively extinguished on the half hour mark as captain Steven Gerrard was sent off for a foul on Michael Carrick as the Red Devils ruined Kenny Dalglish's return as Reds boss.

PROBABLE LINE-UPS

Liverpool (3-4-2-1): Reina; Carragher, Skrtel, Agger; Cole, Lucas, Meireles, Johnson; Kuyt, Gerrard; Suarez.

Manchester United (4-4-2): Van der Sar; O’Shea, Brown, Smalling, Evra; Nani, Fletcher, Scholes, Giggs; Berbatov, Rooney.

25

5

23

37

6

21

4

8

2

7

18

1

3

26

6

22

11

16

24

17

10

9

Prediction

After defeat at Stamford Bridge, Manchester United will feel this is a must-win game as the title race hots up. Yet Liverpool would love nothing better than to interrupt their quest for a 19th title, that would see them overtake the Reds’ record.

To do so they will need to do better than against West Ham United last weekend, but against a United side depleted at the back and vulnerable away from home, will expect at least a point.

Editor's Prediction

 Liverpool2

Man Utd. 2

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06-03-2011 12:30 Sampdoria - Cesena

DID YOU KNOW?

Sampdoria have won their last three Serie A matches against Cesena by the same 1-0 scoreline.

The Blucerchiati haven't tasted defeat in their last seven matches against Cesena in the top flight.

Samp have only scored five goals in the calendar year.

Cesena have only picked up one win on the road this season.

Cesena snapped their nine-game Serie A winless streak against Chievo Verona last weekend.

LAST MEETING

October 31, 2010: Cesena 0-1 Sampdoria

Samp needed a goal at the death by Giampaolo Pazzini, now with Inter, to pick up all three points against Cesena at the Stadio Dino Manuzzi.

PROBABLE LINE-UPS

Sampdoria: Curci; Zauri, Gastaldello, Lucchini, Ziegler; Poli, Palombo, Dessena; Guberti; Maccarone, Biabiany.

Cesena: Antonioli; Santon, Pellegrino, Von Bergen, Lauro; Sammarco, Colucci, Parolo; Rosina, Jimenez, Malonga.

85

3

6

28

78

4

17

16

8

0

32

1

6

25

3

46

18

14

0

10

0

17

Prediction

Editor's Prediction

 Sampdoria0

Cesena 0

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06-03-2011 11:00 Zenit - CSKA Moskva

DID YOU KNOW?
The Russian Super Cup has only been running since 2003.
Zenit and CSKA will meet for the first team in the show-piece.
Last year's Super Cup was won 1-0 by Rubin Kazan against CSKA, a certain Aleksandr Bukharov now of Zenit the goalscorer.
There has never been a Super Cup without a club from Moscow in it's 8-year existence.
This year's fixture will be the first to be played outside of the Russian capital, in Krasnodar's Kuban Stadium.
CSKA Moscow have won the season's opener a record four times since it's creation.
The Army Men have now qualified to play in the last three consecutive Super Cups, but in that time they haven't won the Russian Premier League. In total CSKA have featured in all but two of Super Cup fixtures.
Zenit's only appearance in the Super Cup ended in a 2-1 win over Lokomotiv Moscow, Andrey Arshavin and Pavel Pogrebnyak the scorers in 2008.
Luciano Spalletti beware - the winner of the Russian Super Cup as only ever once gone on to be crowned League champions in the same season.


LAST MEETING
November 10, 2010: Zenit 1-3 CSKA


CSKA Moscow turned on the style at the Petrovsky stadium with a superb display of attacking football. Vagner Love, Mark Gonzalez and Seydou Doumbia put the Army Men 3-0 up before an hour had been played and it wasn't until deep into stoppage-time that Alessandro Rosina managed to find a way past Igor Akinfeev. The victory was deemed irrelevant the following week when Zenit were crowned champions of Russia for the second time.


PROBABLE LINE-UPS
Zenit: Malafeev; Anyukov, Bruno Alves, Fernando Meira, Lukovic; Denisov, Semak, Zyryanov; Shirokov; Danny, Lazovic


Cska: Akinfeev; Nababkin, Ignashevich, Berezutsky, Schennikov; Oliseh, Mamaev, Semberas, Dzagoev; Vagner Love, Doumbia.


Prediction


Zenit 1-1 CSKA Moskva

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