The two greatest teams of the Premier League and Premiership era go head to head in a meaningful match after years as history begins to repeat itself

The two greatest teams of the Premier League and Premiership era go head to head in a meaningful match after years as history begins to repeat itself
Bruno Fernandes (left) and Mohamed Salah (right) will be two of the most important players on the pitch for Manchester United and Liverpool respectively and their performance on Sunday will directly have influence the match between both teams

Once upon a time there was a traditional bastion where only certain teams dominated their leagues and split up the European trophies between themselves. Real Madrid and Barcelona dominated the La Liga, AC Milan, Juventus and Inter Milan dominated the Serie A, Bayern Munich dominated the Bundesliga and the Premier League had Liverpool and Manchester United competing for titles between themselves. After a point of time some of the titans of the game fell apart in the sides as other teams overtook them with AC Milan, Inter Milan and Liverpool being the important victims. History is starting to be repeated now as each of these teams have risen up in the last few years.

Liverpool and Manchester United rivalry being reignited is good news for British Football

Liverpool and Manchester were two industrial cities in England then and both shared a mutual hatred for then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher who let their cities go to waste as she modernised the other parts of England. Both the cities turned to football and established greatness as both teams got iconic players and managers to represent their teams. Liverpool had Bob Paisely and Bill Shankly as their manager while players like Sir Kenneth Dalglish, Ian Rush, Ray Clemence, Alan Hensen and Graeme Souness represented Liverpool during this era.

Manchester United had iconic players as well as Bryan Robson, Paul Ince and Mike Phelan represented them. Liverpool dominated football in the 80’s as they won the Champions League twice in the decade. Later Manchester United dominated the 90s and the early decade of 2000. It was at this point of time that Liverpool started to experience a decline in glory since 2010 to 2015 as they played hopeless football which angered the fans. Manchester United had a similar phase after the retiring of their most iconic manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

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Liverpool reached a turning point in 2015 as ex-Borussia Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp joined Liverpool and took over from Brendan Rodgers. Since then it has only been an upward trend for Liverpool as they went from perennial underachievers to title winners. The Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup, the FIFA Club World Cup and the Premier League were won in a single year and Liverpool were back on their perch. Manchester United look serious contenders now under their manager Ole Gunnar Solksjaer who was a former player.

Manchester United have a three point lead over Liverpool and can get a six point lead if they defeat them on Sunday. They travel to Anfield and know that Liverpool will be under pressure to catch-up with them and also not lose their perfect record at home. However shots have been fired from the Manchester United camp as Ole Gunnar Solksjaer stated that ‘this is the best time to face Liverpool’, implying that this could be an easy fixture. Jurgen Klopp is not someone who takes things like that slightly and it will be amusing to watch how the German is going to react to those remarks.

Whatever the case, fans will be treated to an entertaining fixture as the fate of the Premier League title rests in this match.

Also read: Jose Mourinho speaks about Dele Alli’s difficult situation at Tottenham Hotspur