United celebrate at Anfield.

10 United v Liverpool classics in the Premier League

Thursday 14 January 2021 12:06

It’s the biggest rivalry in English football, with Manchester United and Liverpool having shared 39 top-flight titles between us.

While the Merseysiders were undoubted kings of the old First Division, United have had the upper-hand in the Premier League era, winning 13 crowns to Liverpool’s one.

That means we’ve had plenty of matches to savour against the side from down the M62.

We’ve picked out 10 classics for our video…

United v Liverpool: 10 Premier League classics Video

United v Liverpool: 10 Premier League classics

Juanfield, Berba’s hat-trick and late winners from Ferdinand and O’Shea are all present in our brilliant video…

TOP 10 UNITED v LIVERPOOL PREMIER LEAGUE MATCHES

10: United 2 Liverpool 2 | 1 October 1995

Eric Cantona returned to the side after his eight-month ban and showed an electric Old Trafford what it had been missing, teeing up Nicky Butt for a second-minute opener. A Robbie Fowler double threatened to spoil the party, but Eric – inevitably – would save the day by converting a 70th-minute penalty.

9: United 3 Liverpool 0 | 23 March 2008

With Arsenal and Chelsea on United’s tail, a win over our arch-rivals was required to maintain the gap at the top of the table. That’s just what was delivered, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani adding second-half gloss to Wes Brown’s header, after Javier Mascherano was given his marching orders for dissent.

8: United 1 Liverpool 0 | 22 January 2006

A tight and tense encounter had ticked into stoppage time at Old Trafford, with no sign of a goal for either side. That was until Rio Ferdinand popped up to head home Ryan Giggs’s whipped free-kick. It was one of only eight times the defender made it on to the scoresheet for United – what a time to do it!

7: Liverpool 1 United 2 | 1 December 2002

Reds’ supporters still sing of the day when Diego Forlan struck twice in lightning-fast fashion to silence Anfield. The first came courtesy of a Jerzy Dudek error, before the Uruguayan smashed a second into the roof of the net to render Sami Hyypia’s late strike irrelevant. Altogether now: Diego, wooooahhhh

6: United 2 Liverpool 1 | 10 March 2018

Another quickfire brace, this time from Marcus Rashford, helped down Jurgen Klopp’s ascendant Liverpool in a raucous Saturday lunchtime kick-off. The Academy graduate twice took advantage of Romelu Lukaku knockdowns to leave the Merseysiders reeling and there would be no way back, despite Eric Bailly’s own goal.

5: Liverpool 1 United 2 | 22 March 2015

Juan Mata was the hero for the Reds as we secured a vital win in the race for the top four. The Spaniard finished off a rapid counter-attack in the first half and added an acrobatic second on the hour – after Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard had been shown a red card in his final appearance against United. Daniel Sturridge pulled one back for the hosts, while Wayne Rooney missed a late penalty, but it was Juan’s day in L4.

Juan Mata salutes the away end after netting his second against Liverpool, in 2015.

4: United 3 Liverpool 1 | 12 September 2015

This early-season encounter burst into life in the second half, with Daley Blind and Ander Herrera putting United 2-0 up. A spectacular bicycle kick from Christian Benteke halved the arrears, but a better goal was still to come, as Anthony Martial made his Old Trafford bow in the grandest of manners…

3: Liverpool 1 United 3 | 19 April 1997

The Reds travelled to the red side of Stanley Park top and with a game in hand, but only two points clear of a Liverpool side eager to end their seven-year title drought. That very real prospect was made to seem rather remote by full-time, as Gary Pallister’s headed double and Andy Cole’s strike – capitalising on a David James error – ensured United stayed in pole position on the way to a fourth crown in five years.

2: Liverpool 0 United 1 | 3 March 2007

‘O’Shea! Isn’t that the hallmark of champions?’ Sky’s commentary says it all, after the Irishman conjured the unlikeliest of winners at the end of a backs-to-the-wall outing at Anfield. Paul Scholes had been sent off to seemingly leave United clinging on to a point, but Sir Alex Ferguson’s sides never did it the easy way, anyway…

1: United 3 Liverpool 2 | 19 September 2010

Dimitar Berbatov scored the first United hat-trick against Liverpool for 64 years, to give the Reds all three points in a rollercoaster encounter with the old enemy. The Bulgarian’s second – a sumptuous overhead-kick – had us cruising at 2-0 with an hour gone, but Gerrard wiped out the advantage in the blink of an eye. Berba had the last word, though, nodding a Nani cross past Pepe Reina with five minutes to play.

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