Liverpool v Manchester United | Scott Murray

24 min: Another corner for Liverpool, this time on the right. De Gea comes out to punch with confidence this time. United, suddenly shaken, attempt to launch an attack of their own, but Liverpool are soon coming back at them. Gerrard picks up the ball in the centre circle and drifts wide right, before unleashing a useless shot miles into the stand behind. There’s a sense that Liverpool are after De Gea, who is looking shaky and under some pressure.

22 min: That goal was celebrated with some ferocity by Suarez in the stand. On the touchline, United reserve keeper Lindegaard warms up; there’s something wrong with his side, by all accounts. Here’s Mac Millings, re Evra’s reception on 23 seconds: “I remember when I touched the ball (singular; medical reasons) for the first time. I got pelters, too, but it was in the middle of a Maths lesson, so fair enough.”

21 min: GOAL!!! Liverpool 1-0 Manchester United. Gerrard takes from the left, swinging the ball to the far post. De Gea comes to claim, but can’t make his way through a thicket of players. Agger gets a head to the ball, and sends it into the right-hand side of the net. Humilatingly, it bounces off the top of the unsighted De Gea’s head as it makes its way into the goal.

20 min: A decent meander in from the right past three men by Downing. Space opens up for him to shoot, but after all that good work he hesitates, and is blocked out of it. The ball’s reclaimed by Liverpool, Enrique aiming for the top-right corner. It’s headed out for a corner by Smalling. And from the set piece…

17 min: Downing cleans Evra out by the corner flag on the left. Free kick. That didn’t go down well with the Kop, as you’d imagine. “One lying bastard,” they chorus. The free kick is rubbish, and cleared. But United come straight back at Liverpool, Valencia cutting in from the right, skating past a desparing lunge from Maxi, and unleashing a superlative low curling shot that beats Reina all ends up, only to crash off the left-hand upright and away from danger. What a magnificent shot. And, on the balance of play, United would have deserved to take the lead.

15 min: Carragher arrives for the tackle. Park is upended. It’s in the centre circle, so referee Mark Halsey calmly blows for a free kick, and nothing else.

13 min: Carragher launches into a tackle on Park.

12 min: It’s all become a bit scrappy. Carroll loops a header towards goal, but it’s very much off his eyebrows, and not a problem for De Gea. “As a Liverpool fan, I once detested Man U,” begins Tim Blangger. “Hated the team, the coach, even the fans. But, I have mellowed quite a bit, actually met some fans, who turned out to be nice and even have warmed to that hairdryer blowhard, Sir Alex. I suspect the best thing that happened to ManU was that really despicable teams such as Chelsea and Man City, who are actively trying to buy championships and trophies with their owners’ natural resource billions, have come along and offered a contrast to what Man U is trying to do. Don’t misunderstand me, Scott. I still want Liverpool to win today, but it’s not the knife-edge affair if Liverpool were playing Chelsea, Man City or really, really despicable teams like Real Madrid.”

9 min: Henderson makes a yard or two down the left. His cross finds Gerrard in the centre. The Liverpool captain connects, 12 yards out, but gets next to nothing on his shot, which wafts into De Gea’s arms.

8 min: Valencia gets a yard on Enrique down the right. His cross is chested down by Park, who lays off to Giggs on the edge of the area. Giggs’ shot is powerful, but straight at Reina, who snaffles without fuss. “So Sir Matt Busby and (not Sir) Bob Paisley favoured ground black pepper at a time when the height of exotic British food was a Vesta boil-in-the-bag chicken madras and rice?” notes Gary Naylor. “Who’d have thunk it?”

6 min: Park is suddenly in a lot of space 35 yards from goal, with options to his left. But he dawdles, and Kelly, then Carragher, crunches in. This is being played at 110mph, although that’s not stopping Carroll jogging around in his trademark trot.

4 min: All that United possession, and yet it’s De Gea who warms his hands first. Downing gets a bit of space 30 yards from goal, and he cuts inside from the right to unleash a low swerving shot towards the bottom-left corner. It’s a hot effort, and one the keeper does well to push round the post. The corner is a load of rubbish. “Actually Carragher started out as a defensive midfielder in Liverpool’s first team, so I was a bit surprised he hadn’t been considered there after the Lucas injury and suspension to Spearing,” writes Steve Armson. “Mind you that was several aeons ago and he didn’t exactly cement his position, so… bit of a pointless email, really, but at least it’s about the football.”

2 min: A strong-ish start by United, who are seeing plenty of the ball in these early exchanges. Liverpool haven’t really arrived yet, but no matter, as the home crowd aren’t really concentrating on the match, discussing via the medium of song the veracity of Evra’s testimony to that FA committee.

23 seconds: Evra touches the ball for the first time. He gets pelters, as you’d expect.

And we’re off! Luis Suarez is in the stands with his wee daughter. Kenny Dalglish and Alex Ferguson shake hands warmly on the touchline. Evra crosses himself, and his team-mates get the ball rolling. They’ll be kicking towards the Kop in the first half, which means Liverpool play that way in the second, of course. Which is just how they want it. “Is United’s decision to play de Gea a response to Liverpool’s kindly gesture to play Andy Carroll?” wonders John White. “Surely a goalkeeper with vision problems and a striker with goal problems leads to a perfect harmonious balance.”

The teams are in the tunnel. Evra, wearing United’s blue-and-black change strip and a determined (if understandably slightly pensive) look, leads his team out. Gerrard escorts his men alongside him, in Liverpool red. A magnificent atmosphere at Anfield, as much as I can tell through the ITV microphones anyway. “An inspiring, Ebony & Ivory-esque appeal for calm and sanity, Scott,” simpers Ryan Dunne, and who am I to argue. “It’s surely also worth noting that if the Glorious Glasgow Rangers-affiliated Sir Alex and Cellic’s King Kenny can get on (which they kinda do) then surely so can Man U and Liverpool fans. Jamie Carragher in midfield sounds an, er, intriguing move. I realise he’s renowned for a having a knowledge of tactics etc that most players don’t, but surely this is a bit Kevin Keegan playing Gareth Southgate as a midfield enforcer?”

Our first friendly message of the day comes courtesy of my learned colleague Jacob Steinberg, via the medium of That Twitter: “As a goodwill gesture towards Manchester United, Liverpool start with Andy Carroll.”

Referee: Mark Halsey (Lancashire)

Manchester United: De Gea, Rafael Da Silva, Smalling, Evans, Evra, Scholes, Carrick, Giggs, Valencia, Welbeck, Park.
Subs: Lindegaard, Ferdinand, Berbatov, Hernandez, Fabio Da Silva, Michael Keane, Pogba

Liverpool, who are either playing five at the back, or Jamie Carragher in midfield: Reina, Skrtel, Carragher, Agger, Kelly, Henderson, Gerrard, Jose Enrique, Downing, Carroll, Maxi.
Subs: Doni, Johnson, Coates, Kuyt, Adam, Shelvey, Bellamy.

Kick off: 12.45pm for a 12.46pm brouhaha.

A beautiful moment at the 1983 Milk Cup final

So we’ll try to keep it civil round here. Fans and supporters of Liverpool and Manchester United are therefore cordially invited to email in saying nice things about each other. Worst-case scenario if humanity doesn’t shine through: I have no emails to publish and a nice easy afternoon of it. But I have hope: just look at Matt and Bob sharing a moment there at the 1983 Milk Cup final, the romantic old devils!

Welcome to yet another episode of the East Lancs Road Stramash. And we all know the subtext. And that, as a result of that subtext, this match has the potential to be a grim old affair (though let’s hope not). But, here, if the man who built modern Manchester United, and the most successful manager in Liverpool’s history, can share a glass and a laugh, can’t everyone else try to love each other today? Eh?