LIVERPOOL V MAN UTD

Best of enemies - Sir Alex and Kenny face off this Saturday

Liverpool vs Manchester United. There is not a fixture in English football that can match the drama when the country's two most successful clubs face each other and Saturday's clash will undoubtedly provide entertainment and controversy in equal measure. To honour this fixture Tactical Gamble is providing you with its pick of the odds for this fixture, from goals to red cards to own goals.


Liverpool to win 11/5 (Bet Fred, Ladbrokes, Totesport, William Hill)
Man Utd to win 6/4 (Ladbrokes, Unibet, Victor Chandler, William Hill)
Draw - 12/5 (888 Sport, Blue Square)


Goals


United have been in fine goal scoring form this season and will be confident of finding the net and silencing the Kop this Saturday. Liverpool's defence looks more assured than it has done in previous seasons and much of this is down to the signing of Jose Enrique, who seems to have solved the left sided problem that has plagued Liverpool for the past few years. 
However it is on the other flank where United will look to capitalise. Whether Liverpool start with Martin Kelly or the returning Glen Johnson, the champions will view this area as their opponents main weak area and with that in mind, as well as his fine goal scoring form for club and country recently, Ashley Young looks a decent bet at 9/1 for first goal with several bookmakers including Sky Bet.

Alternatively, for those who believe that dreams do come true, Ladbrokes are offering 7/2 for Michael Owen to score any time during the game. Could the former Anfield hero come off the bench and score against his old club for their bitter rivals? 



Liverpool, meanwhile, look set to welcome back Steven Gerrard from injury and is best priced at 12/1 with William Hill and Ladbrokes to open the scoring on his return to the starting XI. The Liverpool captain has scored 4 goals in this historical fixture and as a boyhood Kopite, he would love nothing more than to bag number 5 this Saturday, which would also be his 50th league goal at Anfield.

However, Tactical Gamble's pick of the bets this Saturday is Unibet's odds of 7/1 for Andy Carroll to score a header at any point in the game. United have conceded 3 goals from set pieces this season and will not look forward to dealing with Charlie Adam's deliveries, which Sir Alex Ferguson described  as being "worth £10 million in themselves" last season. At 6"3, Carroll will be the main target of Adam's set pieces and he will be confident of punishing United with his aerial presence, especially seen as he is now off the mark this season following his goal against Everton. Phil Jones and the returning Vidic may make life more difficult for Carroll but odds of 7/1 look generous for the long haired Geordie to profit from United's set piece weakness.


Best of the Rest


From the terraces to the dugouts to the pitch, this fixture always has a great passion and intensity to it, which has often meant that the busiest man on the pitch is the man in black. The last 5 Liverpool-United clashes at Anfield has seen 4 red cards and William Hill is offering odds of 12/5 that a red card will be shown at some point during the game. 
Following his dismissal for England, all eyes will be on the temperament of Wayne Rooney and Paddy Power is offering odds of 25/1 that the United talisman takes an early bath on Saturday. Alternatively, Paddy Power are also offering the same odds (25/1) that Nemanja Vidic earns a hat trick of Anfield red cards by getting his marching orders at the weekend.
Another unwanted hat trick which could occur on Saturday could go to Jamie Carragher. After scoring a brace of own goals for United in 1999, the Liverpool defender is only 1 goal away from scoring his third Manchester United goal - which would draw him level with Patrice Evra and put him above Eric Djemba-Djemba on United's goalscoring list. Paddy Power are offering 15/2 for somebody to score in the wrong net on Saturday.