Clash of the Titans – rivalry rooted in shipping lines

Jason de la Peña brings a vast wealth of sports knowledge, professional journalism experience and the unique perspective of having been a professional sportsman for 10 years to ESPN’s SportsCenter and the live football match presentation on ESPN STAR Sports.

In my humble opinion there are four things to know before this Saturday’s massive Premier League clash between the two titans of English football – Manchester United and Liverpool.

Four issues that make the game all the more tantalizing for long-suffering fans of the beautiful game:

1) It is Manchester United v Liverpool – is there a greater rivalry in football? The clubs are the two most successful teams in England; they have won 118 honours between them: 60 for Manchester United and 58 for Liverpool.

2) Headline maker Luis Suarez will surely start having had a run out and a karate kick versus Spurs on Monday – coming off the back of an eight match ban after alleged racial slurs toward a United player – Patrice Evra.

3) Revenge will be on United’s mind given their 1-2 loss to Liverpool in the recent FA Cup match just two weeks ago at Anfield

4) As of last season, United have clinched 19 Premier League titles, overtaking their visitors this weekend who possess 18.

So there we have it – the first is reason enough to tempt us to our television sets, the second to fourth are the dramatic stories that makes this tie all the more thrilling.

United legends present and past in Wayne Rooney and Gary Neville have added fuel to the fire this week with their thoughts posted on social networking sites, kicking of the mind games.

Rooney said on Twitter about Suarez’s yellow card for the high kick on Spurs’ midfield linchpin Scott Parker, “If ref sees that kick from Suarez and books him for it it should be red.” Recently retired and current football pundit Neville twittered, “Suarez should have seen red for that kick.”

I can’t wait to hear Sir Alex Ferguson and Kenny Dalglish in pre-match press conferences ahead of this Saturday’s Prime Time Premier League centrepiece.

Aside from all the hype, rivalry, machismo and mind games – it’s the history between the two cities that fuels a world famous rivalry.

Since the late 1800’s and at during Great Britain’s industrial boom it was Manchester that was famed for its manufacturing prowess, Liverpool for its busy port.

But once the Manchester Ship Canal was constructed, Liverpool’s once bustling port lost out with massive job losses. The inevitable resentment took hold thus affecting the relationship between the two cities. Historians attribute this as the one factor that split the industrial hubs, a separation that exists to this day.

But today’s game will be wrought with intriguing sub-plots to Saturday’s game are whether Luis Suarez will shake Patrice Evra’s hand before the game, what t-shirts the Liverpool players will wear under their jerseys, and will Andy Carroll score on the biggest football arena?

In terms of numbers, the two sides have played 183 matches between them across all competitions, with the Red Devils winning 71, Liverpool winning 51, and 61 matches ending in draws.

At our office, former Manchester United defender Paul Parker and ex-Liverpool midfielder Steve McMahon have a combined appearance record for both United and Liverpool of 309 games – all the experience we need to guide us through the matches on ESPN’s Monday Night Verdict.

But the most compelling numbers that fans from will be most concerned about tomorrow will be the ones scratched on the scoreboard.

Catch Jason de la Pena on SportsCenter on ESPN every weekday at 7.30pm, and Monday Night Verdict at 8pm for exclusive post-match interviews from Old Trafford. Catch the LIVE match this Saturday at 8.45pm on ESPN