Sparks always fly when the old rivals meet and there have been three sendings off in the last three meetings, so expect more fireworks at Anfield this Saturday.

Liverpool v Man Utd (12:45)

The home side have won the last three meetings at Anfield, including a 3-1 success last year thanks a hat-trick from Dirk Kuyt. Prior to that, United had won 1-0 in the two previous seasons and, as ever, it looks a difficult one to call.

The midfield could be the key to success, in what is likely to be a physical encounter. United’s new set-up in the middle of the park has impressed so far this term, with Anderson taking a staring role.

Liverpool, on the other hand, have frequently shuffled their pack in the midfield, some times with success and at other times, like at Tottenham, they have been over-run.

But the likely return of Steven Gerrard could prove a crucial factor in favour of Kenny Dalglish’s men.

Suggested Bet: Draw H/T / Liverpool F/T @ 5/1

Man City v Aston Villa (3pm)

Two unbeaten teams meet at Eastlands and it seems likely that something will give, as Roberto Mancini’s men look to close the gap on city rivals United.

Carlos Tevez may have returned after his club suspension this week, but his presence is unlikely to have any detrimental effect on City who will be missing Sergio Aguero.

The home side have won all three of their home matches this term and Villa have lost on their last five trips to City – enough said!

Suggested Bet: City to win @ 4/11

Norwich v Swansea (3pm)

Two newly-promoted teams go head-to-head at Carrow Road and both have shown that they are capable of staying up this season.

A win here for either team could prove crucial, even at this early stage, for their hopes.

The Canaries have won one, drawn one, lost one on home soil this term, while Swansea have lost all three of their away games.

Those fixtures were though at Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City and they are good enough to get something from this game.

Norwich won this game 2-0 last season, but Brendan Rodgers’ squad is a stronger unit now.

Suggested Bet: Draw @ 9/4

QPR v Blackburn (3pm)

Neil Warnock’s side have already proven to be the most unpredictable team in the top flight so far, while Blackburn have, at times, looked the weakest.

Sandwiched inbetween a 4-0 home defeat to Bolton and 6-0 thrashing at Fulham, the R’s have picked up eight points and looked an improving side.

Meanwhile, Rovers have picked up just one point from three away games and are relying heavily on Yakubu to deliver the goals to keep them up.

Suggested Bet: DJ Campbell to score at anytime @ 13/8

Stoke v Fulham (3pm)

The Cottagers collected a shock win at the Britannia Stadium last season and go into this clash in good form.

A 6-0 win over QPR will have boosted confidence in the Fulham camp and the return to form and fitness of Andy Johnson and Bobby Zamora is massive.

Stoke are unbeaten at home and that includes the visits of Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United.

Tony Pulis’ men will have welcomed the international break, with their hectic schedule, and may prove too strong for the visitors.

Suggested Bet: Stoke to win @ 6/5

Wigan v Bolton (3pm)

This is normally a tight local derby and following disappointing starts to the season from both clubs, expect more of the same on Saturday.

Wanderers have not won at the DW Stadium since 2007 and the last four league meetings have produced just two goals.

The first goal, if there is one, is likely to prove crucial in this clash.

Suggested Bet: 1-1 Draw @ 11/2

Chelsea v Everton (5:30pm)

Everton have been stewing over the Merseyside derby defeat for a fortnight and so expect them to respond with a big performance at Stamford Bridge.

David Moyes’ men are unbeaten in their last six matches with Chelsea and will feel they can take something from this game – especially with Jack Rodwell available.

Chelsea will face their toughest home test of the season to date and although they appear to have plenty of goals in them, they will miss the suspended Fernando Torres.

Suggested Bet: Draw @ 7/2

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Fabio Capello

The Manchester United player is not certain to be fit for the game, and it is his fitness that is at the centre of Capello’s struggle.

In Ferdinand’s enforced absence, Capello handed the captain’s armband to Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard, and now he faces a difficult decision over who should lead the team.

But the Italian stressed the importance of players being fit “for a lot of games” – which could count against Ferdinand.

Ferdinand has already lost the Manchester United captaincy to Nemanja Vidic as a series of setbacks have curtailed his appearances for the Red Devils.

The United defender was named as John Terry’s replacement earlier this year but suffered a knee problem which forced his withdrawal from the World Cup.

Gerrard has impressed in the flying start to the Euro 2012 qualifying group, and looks to be the player in pole position for the captain’s job as England attempt to maintain their 100 per cent start to the qualifying campaign (England 1/7 to win Euro 2012 qualifying group G).

When asked whether Ferdinand would be captain if available, Capello told the Press Association: “I will decide after seeing which players are fit.

“I haven’t decided. I can’t speak about who will be captain. I hope all the players will be fit and then I will announce it.

“Why not Ferdinand? No, no no. Wait. I can’t speak about if, if, if…”

Capello is not concerned about Ferdinand having been axed as United captain, saying that it would not affect his decision about the England position.

The Italian said: “I think Sir Alex decided on one player that played more games (Vidic) and be sure he is always fit. I think so.

“It is important always that the players have to be fit for a lot of games.”

Gerrard was Capello’s first England captain for the friendly with Switzerland in February 2008.

Capello said: “Gerrard is a really good captain. He is captain of Liverpool, and he always plays like a leader on the pitch.”

Ferdinand has played just six of the past 22 England games due to injury.

Capello will now keep both players guessing and is only likely to make a decision after the players meet up at Watford on Thursday.

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Steven Gerrard

The Reds’ poor start to the season hit a new low on Wednesday evening when they were dumped out of the Carling Cup at home by League Two outfit Northampton on penalties.

The performance was way below what was expected of a side – containing six full internationals at the start – on a rain-soaked night on Merseyside and was the first time Liverpool have ever been beaten by a team from the lowest rung of the English football ladder in Cup competition.

First-team squad players Ryan Babel, Lucas, Sotirios Kyrgiakos, Daniel Agger and David Ngog all started the game while they were selected alongside youngsters Danny Wilson, Jay Spearing, Dani Pacheco and Martin Kelly.

However, Roy Hodgson’s side barely deserved to claim a 2-2 draw against the minnows following 120 minutes of football and it was left to club captain Gerrard to try and take the positives out of a shocking night for the club (Liverpool 2/1 – Top 4 Finish).

“They will learn from this experience. Football isn’t just about highs,” he told the club’s website.

“Throughout my career I have experienced both highs and lows and probably learnt more from the lows because you look at yourself first, look at what went wrong and try to learn from your mistakes. The players are allowed to be down today but it’s up to players like myself to pick them back up because playing for this club there are big games every two or three days and we need to get everyone’s head focused on Sunderland now.

“There are still some positives underneath the frustration. Although we’ve gone out and everyone is down and disappointed, the experience that would have given the lads in the dressing room might be vital for the future.”

Gerrard says the players must not dwell on the result and everyone must pull together for the Black Cats clash – a game that is likely to see a completely different line-up chosen by Hodgson.

“The last thing we want now is for people to be sulking with their heads down because there’s a massive game in three days,” he added.

“No-one is hurting more than the players who played. We’ve all been there and all experienced it. Everyone is disappointed and down but it’s not the end of the world. It’s gone now, it’s important we move on and think about Sunderland and try to get the three points.”

“What I would ask all the supporters is to trust the players and what the players are saying. I’ve been reading and listening to what they’ve been saying and they’ve all said we’ll get it right in the end – and we will.”

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Liverpool

The Reds may have come away from Old Trafford with nothing to show for their efforts following the 3-2 defeat, but the England midfielder is confident progress is being made under boss Roy Hodgson, who was only appointed in the summer.

A big piece of Hodgson’s summer transfer dealings was keeping Gerrard and star striker Fernando Torres out of the clutches of rival clubs, and the former Fulham chief was rewarded as Gerrard weighed in with a brace which included a penalty at the weekend.

Although naturally disappointed to go down at United, Gerrard was upbeat on Monday morning over the Merseysiders’ chances for the rest of the campaign.

He said: “It is going to take time before the new manager gets his feet in the door and gets his ideas over.

“We are improving and the performance yesterday was very good.

“If we play like that most weeks we will beat most teams in the league.”

Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov’s first hat-trick for the club ultimately proved the difference between the two sides, but it still did not stop Gerrard from stressing what he thought were the positives.

“We kept the ball away from them and I thought we passed it really well; of course we had to be edgy in the first half because we were away from home,” said Gerrard.

“I thought second half we were much more positive and played some terrific stuff but you get nothing for that.

“When you go to places like that you have to create chances from your possession and score goals.

“We scored two but it was not enough.”

One of the main talking points post-match was the form of Berbatov after he stole the limelight with possibly his best game in a United shirt.

But talk also centred on the out-of-form Torres who has found himself accused of cheating following a tussle with United utility man John O’Shea which saw the Irishman booked.

Sir Alex Ferguson commented: “I have watched it again. Fernando Torres made a meal of it, an absolute meal of it. There is no doubt he tried to get the player sent off.”

United (11/2 – Carling Cup Outright) are back in action on Wednesday when they make the trip to Scunthorpe for a Carling Cup third-round clash while Liverpool (15/2) entertain Northampton.

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Steven Gerrard

The 4-0 success over Bulgaria at Wembley on Friday was followed up with the 3-1 win in Basel and Gerrard was delighted with the display, saying England “tore their opponents apart” at times.

The abysmal World Cup showing over the summer will soon be forgotten if Capello’s side can continue to play like they did on Tuesday and the stand-in skipper claims the feel-good factor is back in the camp.

Gerrard admitted: “I think all the players who were over in South Africa realised it wasn’t good enough.

“We knew we had to regroup, stick together and try and raise our performance levels. I think over the last two games we’ve certainly done that.”

Many had predicted a tight game in Group G but England, with Adam Johnson, Gerrard, Wayne Rooney and James Milner all starring, were always on top and should have been further in front than 1-0 at half time.

The Liverpool star admitted he was expecting a tough defensive showing from Switzerland, who famously beat world champions Spain in South Africa, but insisted they could not live with England as an attacking force.

“They’ve got a good record, especially at home,” Gerrard added. “Many people were talking about them being hard to score against and hard to beat, but I thought we tore them apart at times.”

England take on Montenegro next in the group, in what could prove a tougher game than originally expected, after they picked up their second win on Tuesday.

Following a 1-0 win over Wales on Friday, the so-called ‘minnows’ also won 1-0 in Bulgaria and will head to Wembley next month in good heart (Montenegro 22/1 to win the group).

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England

The Three Lions move on from the 4-0 hammering of Bulgaria at Wembley in the opening game of the Euro 2012 qualifying campaign by taking on the stingy Swiss.

Ottmar Hitzfeld’s men set a new record at the World Cup for minutes played without conceding a goal – 559 – which beat the previous best of 550 minutes set by Italy.

Switzerland also rolled over eventual world champions Spain in their opening group game although they still failed to get into the second phase after a defeat to Chile and a draw with Honduras.

Gerrard admits he has personally run the rule over the Swiss and says England must be patient as they look for chances later.

The Liverpool star said: “They’re a top side. Defensively they’re very good. We’ll be watching more tapes of them before the game.

“I followed them really closely in the World Cup because we were linked with a player called (Gokhan) Inler with the rumours that (Javier) Mascherano was supposed to be leaving Liverpool.

“They’ll be difficult to break down. I liked Inler, thought he was good, but I don’t control what players we sign.”

While the Swiss are mean at the back, lack of goals was their problem in the summer while they only scored more than two goals on one occasion during World Cup qualifying – against minnows Luxembourg – in 10 games.

In contrast, England scored 34 times during qualification for the 2010 World Cup finals although the feel-good factor around Fabio Capello’s side evaporated during a dreadful campaign in South Africa.

Capello is looking forward, though, and admits he is delighted to have unearthed the strike partnership of Wayne Rooney and Jermain Defoe (England 4/7 – To Score First Goal).

The Italian said: “Sometimes over the course of a season it is like players have a chemical moment. I can see that in them now.

“Against Bulgaria, Defoe’s movement was fantastic and Rooney’s passing was fantastic.

“Rooney has played in a lot of different positions, left wing in the Champions League, as a lone centre-forward and in midfield.

“On Friday I asked him to play just in front of their two central defenders.

“He had a lot of possession, was free to move around the pitch and was really good with the ball at his feet.

“He is so technically strong his passing was excellent.”

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Roy Hodgson’s side survived a scare in Turkey on Thursday night against Trabzonspor, going a goal down early on before an own goal and a late Dirk Kuyt strike saved them from going to extra time.

The Reds have now come through two qualifying rounds to reach the group stages of the Europa League and have been rewarded by being placed in Group K alongside Napoli, Steaua Bucharest and Utrecht.

The biggest test Liverpool are likely to face will come from Italian side Napoli, who finished sixth in Serie A season and have a good squad of players to call upon.

Amongst manager Walter Mazzarri’s squad is the highly-rated Marek Hamsik, who has been linked with a move to Manchester United in the past.

The Slovakian is joined by Italian international Fabio Quagliarella and Argentina prospect Ezequiel Lavezzi, who has also been linked with a move to a number of British clubs.

A trip to Romania to face former European champions Steaua will not be easy either, although Liverpool will be the hot favourites to win the home leg.

Rounding off Group K (13/2 to produce the outright winner) are Dutch side Utrecht, who enjoyed one of the greatest nights in their short history when they overturned a 2-0 defeat to Celtic in the first leg, beating the SPL side 4-0 at home to go through.

Although Liverpool will be the favourites to win the group and reach the knockout stages Gerrard admits it won’t be easy.

The England international, who missed the trip to Turkey through injury, says that while the Europa League is not the club’s priority this season he claims it?s important they do well in the competition.

“It’s a strong group and I’m certainly looking forward to the games. The media will make us early favourites I’m sure, because of our experience in the Champions League and last year in the Europa League,” said Gerrard.

“I’m confident we can get out of the group but it will be tough. The draw has given us some difficult challenges.

“I don’t think the Europa League is the priority. Everybody knows that our league position, where we finish at the end of this year, is the priority.

“But it’s another trophy, it’s a big cup. We haven’t won a trophy for four years now so it’s important we put a good show on in all the cup competitions and try to reward the fans with a final.”

Joining Liverpool in the hat for Friday’s draw were Manchester City (11/2 Europa League outright) after they cruised past Romanian team Timisoara.

Their reward was to be placed in a group alongside Italian giants Juventus, who themselves are one of the favourites to win this season’s Europa League.

The draw will see City striker Mario Balotelli return to Turin, where he was the victim of racist abuse two seasons ago, resulting in Juve being forced to play a game behind closed doors.

Joining City and Juve in Group A are Austrian champions Salzburg and Polish qualifiers Lech Poznan.

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Steven Gerrard

Having gone to South Africa as one of the tournament favourites, the Three Lions failed to live up to expectations and crashed out to Germany in the second round.

Capello has made radical changes to the squad for this week’s friendly against Hungary (England 2/7, Draw 4/1, Hungary 11/1 – Match Betting), with a whole host of new faces and younger players being given their chance.

The squad has already seen a number of withdrawals though, with Wes Brown and Paul Robinson announcing their international retirements. This has again put the manager’s position under question.

Responding to the duo’s decisions, Capello stated: “You have to accept what they want to do. I think it’s an honour to be with the national team and to play for England.”

Despite these setbacks, skipper Gerrard believes the Italian still remains the right man for the job and that the players in the squad remain determined to be successful with the national team.

The Liverpool midfielder said: “He (Capello) is a fantastic manager and I still have the utmost confidence in him.”

Gerrard (11/8 to score at anytime v Hungary) accepts that England are likely to be given a ‘mixed reception’ by the home fans on Wednesday, admitting that he would boo the players if he was sat in the stands as a fan.

He added: “We have to take it on the chin. We deserve it. We let them down in the summer.”

Meanwhile, Sunderland striker Darren Bent (20/1 to be 2010/2011 Premier League Top Goalscorer) has pulled out of the squad to face Hungary at Wembley due to injury.

Bent, who missed out on a place at the World Cup, is struggling with a back problem, which forced him to sit out Monday’s training session.

The 26-year-old’s absence means Wayne Rooney is now likely to be partnered by either Carlton Cole of West Ham or Fulham’s Bobby Zamora.

Bent, who scored 24 Premier League goals last season, has been sent back to his club and is a doubt for Sunderland’s opening game with Birmingham on Saturday.

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England

Speaking at a press conference ahead of the friendly, the Liverpool skipper believes that there will be a mixed reception for the players.

England drew plenty of criticism after the squad failed to live up to the high expectations placed upon them ahead of the World Cup in South Africa this summer.

The Three Lions drew their opening game with the USA after a Robert Green error gifted the underdogs the equaliser.

England then went on to draw with Algeria in an extremely disappointing performance before they scraped past Slovenia 1-0.

The 1966 World Cup winners were then beaten convincingly by Germany in the knockout stages and since that game, the side has come under heavy criticism.

Gerrard has stated that England will have to accept the boos on Wednesday night after a poor World Cup.

He said: “I’m sure there will be boos at times tomorrow night but we have to deal with that, we have to be men and take it on the chin.

“We deserve it. We let them (the fans) down in the summer. So we have to get on with that and hopefully in time we can show them we are a good team, there is a togetherness there and hopefully we can make them happy in the future,” he added.

England boss Fabio Capello was blamed by the media and the fans for not doing better in South Africa.

The Italian was criticised for not playing players like Gerrard in the positions in which they regularly feature for their clubs.

Capello wanted to continue working with the national side and is now looking to build towards the European Championships in 2012 (England 9/1 to win the 2012 European Championships).

Gerrard has stated that he still believes in the manager despite the poor World Cup tournament.

He said: “I’ve got big faith in this manager as I’ve said all along.

“I think it would be very stupid and naïve not to still have that confidence in him moving forward. He’s a fantastic manager.”

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Steven Gerrard

Gerrard’s future has been the subject of plenty of speculation this summer following Liverpool’s disappointing campaign last season and the subsequent departure of boss Rafa Benitez to Internazionale.

However, Hodgson has indicated Gerrard spoke to Cole to convince him to make the move to Anfield while the two were together at the World Cup with England, and it would now come as a major surprise if the 30-year-old opted to leave the club he has served so well for his whole career.

Hodgson’s first major signing since taking over the Reds was a major coup with Spurs, Arsenal and West Ham all keen on signing the free agent following his release from Chelsea and he revealed Gerrard, along with team-mate Jamie Carragher were influential in helping Cole decide where to play his football next season.

“Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard did a good job in selling the club to Joe at the recent World Cup,” said Hodgson.

“He was undecided about what he wanted to do and to be fair it takes a bit more selling to persuade a Londoner who has played all his life in London to move up to Liverpool. The simple solution would have been to stay in the London area.”

Carragher himself is delighted with the capture and says it proves Liverpool (7/4 to finish in the top four) under Hodgson mean business.

“We have signed a top international player who has been really important for Chelsea,” he said on the club’s website.

“A lot of clubs wanted to sign him but it is a real coup that he has chosen to come here and you have got to give the manager and the board a pat on the back for convincing him to come here.

“Every supporter that I have spoken to is absolutely delighted and all the players are the same – it’s given everyone a boost, just at the right time.

“It’s good news again and, hopefully, there will be more to come. It’s the kind of signing that we needed to make.”

Carragher added: “Joe is someone I have known for a long time from playing with England. He is a great lad to have around the squad, he mixes well and is a lively character – he’s also an outstanding footballer.

“In the modern game, you need forwards that can function in two or three different positions and Joe will do that, no problem at all. He can play on the right, through the middle or on the left.”

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