Liverpool vs. Manchester United: What will happen?

After my poor attempt at predicting the Chelsea vs. United match (see Predictions for Chelsea vs. Manchester United) I thought I'd give it another go.

Now, contrary to what I predicted for Tuesday's game, I see this as a fast, end to end affair with Liverpool pushing on more and trying to take advantage of the makeshift United defense.

The back four of Sir Alex's side will likely be O'Shea, Brown, Smalling and Evra- the latter being the only first choice of the four.

It is possible Rafael will replace O'Shea, but with the aerial threat of Liverpool and their lack of out and out winger, that seems to be unlikely.

The rumored inclusion of Andy Carroll will spice things up even more and make the prospect of Edwin Van Der Sar keeping a clean sheet seem even more unlikely.

I expect Berbatov to return, given his incredible performance in the mirroring fixture earlier in the season. This will give United added potency compared with Tuesday- Hernandez did not get much of the ball and may not be quite ready for games of this magnitude.

Suarez will add some attacking flair to the Liverpool offence and although without the excellent Kelly, Liverpool will have a very strong side.

I think, providing Johnson can deal with the threat of United's best player this season, Nani, Liverpool will have a great chance to snatch a win and hand the advantage of this year's title race back into Arsenal's hands.

I therefore can see this being a 2-1 victory for Liverpool.

If Carroll plays, I see him scoring on his debut, but even if he doesn't, I think the injury hit defense will affect United badly.

With the fire power United have, I think they will score- but I can't see them coming from what will be an amped up Anfield, with a victory.

What do you think?

Any predictions?

Will Fernando Boom or Bust?

I can think of many many ways I would spend £50 million.

A new car, or twenty. A huge house with my own small stadium in it's grounds. Maybe a new pair of jeans?

Roman Abramovich however, has decided to spend his £50 million on something different (probably because he already has everything listed above and more). Abramovich has decided to spend his money on a World Cup winning Spaniard who quite frankly looks like a walking talking been pole at six feet tall and 70 kilograms.

Torres, in all seriousness, has not been at his best this season. Many have said he hasn't performed for the last eighteen months, but a look at his eighteen goals in twenty-two starts at Liverpool tend to refute that claim.

Torres' first two games have left little to be desired, however. Liverpool fans have been smiling smugly, believing they have cleverly got rid of a player past his prime for a price tens of millions of pounds more than he is worth.

Sadly for them though, Torres is far from past his best and they have spent it on something of a risk in Andy Carroll (but that is for another time).

The bottom line is Fernando Torres is a touch of class.

Despite what Liverpool fans may outwardly say, they would rather have him leading their attack then a combination of Carroll, Kuyt, Suarez and N'Gog.

Why? Because Torres is a bona fide superstar. Chelsea are already gaining back that £50 million in shirt sales and gate receipts.

His goalscoring record is beyond doubt and his last match against Copenhagen went a long way to suggest he is slowly getting back to his destructive best.

His runs and drive panicked the defence for 90 minutes and the only thing between him and his name on the score sheet was the excellent Johan Wiland between the sticks.

As soon as Chelsea decide what formation to play him in, Torres will prove that form is temporary and class is indeed, permanent.

Is is only a matter of time before Torres will boom at Stamford Bridge.