Top-flight champions Manchester United play host to arch-rivals Liverpool at Old Trafford on Sunday lunch time in a fixture of huge importance to both teams as they go in search of a place in the top four of the Premier League come the end of the campaign, and with it a qualifying spot in the Uefa Champions League.
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Nemanja Vidic v Luis Suarez
The experienced Serbia international may have recently announced his decision to quit the Red Devils come the end of the campaign after seven years in the north west, however, the classy centre back has also promised to give his all for the Premier League champions between now and May in order to try and get the club into next season’s Uefa Champions League.
However, the central defender also knows that he will be in for a busy afternoon at Old Trafford on Sunday trying to keep the visitors’ mercurial Uruguay international under wraps, with only one team all campaign long having managed to keep a clean sheet at home against the Reds in the league, that being Arsenal.
And you get the feeling that whoever emerges on top in this particular head to head may go a long way towards deciding the outcome of the entire match.
Daniel Agger v Wayne Rooney
The England international has been the Red Devils’ best player in what has been a disappointing campaign so far for the champions, and you can be damn sure that the front man will be raring to go against the Reds at the Theatre of Dreams this weekend.
And if there is one man that the Mersetsiders will be wary of as well, then that man will be Rooney, who has a habit of popping up with crucial goals for his club, and especially when their arch rivals are in town too.
Expect the attacker to therefore drop deep at times in search of the ball while his strike partner Robin van Persie plays a more fixed and central role, meaning that Liverpool vice-captain Daniel Agger will need to be on his toes at all time when marking the Englishman.
Agger, who has just returned to the Reds’ starting lineup after a long injury absence, is strong in the air and good with the ball at his feet, so this should also be another fascinating contest to relish.
Tom Cleverly v Jordan Henderson
This threatens to be a fearsome and action-packed confrontation in the centre of the park between currently two of England’s most promising and up-and-coming players who are both hoping to make it to the World Cup finals with their country this summer.
The United midfielder goes in this huge match-up of course having been making the headlines of late, although not for reasons that he will have liked after some England fans launched an online petition demanding that Three Lions head coach Roy Hodgson does not select him for Brazil 2014.
And so the Englishman will surely be fired up going into this fixture, although intriguingly the player facing him at the Theatre of Dreams this Sunday lunch time is his rival for a place on the plane to Rio, with the Reds’ all-action midfielder having enjoyed an outstanding campaign for his club.
Robin van Persie v Martin Skrtel
While the Netherlands international may not have enjoyed his greatest ever campaign in front of goal, the 30-year-old has still found the back of the net with some regularity for the Red Devils when he has been fit enough to take his place up front.
And despite all the rumours and stories linking the Dutchman with a shock move away from Old Trafford come the end of the campaign, you know full well that Van Persie would love nothing better than to get his name on the scoresheet this weekend against the Merseuside giants, as he did in both league encounters last season.
Charged with the task of preventing RVP from netting in the north west will be the visitors’ in-form central defender, one of the few centre backs that Reds head coach Brendan Rodgers has been able to call upon consistently so far in this campaign, with the Slovakia international responding with the best form since he arrived at Anfield six years ago.
Consequently, this will be a personal duel to keep an eye on.