5 memorable Liverpool v Man Utd clashes ahead of English football’s ‘El Clasico’

Liverpool have the chance to make Sir Alex Ferguson choke on his infamous vow that his job at Manchester United would never be finished until he dethroned the Merseysiders.

Ferguson's thirteen wins in the Premier League mean that no team has been champions of England more times than the Reds from Old Trafford.

But with Arne Slot's team currently maintaining a brutal pace at the top of the table, the chances of Liverpool drawing with their rivals on 20 title wins are diminishing every week.

And with the Dutchman's side also clear at the top of the new Champions League table, through to a Carabao Cup semi-final meeting with Tottenham, and taking on Accrington Stanley in the FA Cup, they are starting 2025 with a dream to take over the club from United. Treble legends of 1999 by becoming the first club to complete the Quadruple.

Liverpool opens the new year with a match against United at Anfield. It will be the 244th meeting between the two clubs in a rivalry that began in April 1894 when Liverpool defeated Newton Heath 2-0 in a test match to decide which club would play in the First Division the following season.

United have 91 wins to Liverpool's 82, but the past 131 years have brought stories of triumph, defeat and even the rotten smell of corruption. Here are five past meetings to whet the appetite.

April 2, 1915: Man Utd 2 Liverpool 0

In the days before all the hype about English football's most toxic rivalry, seven players were banned for life after fixing a match to prevent United from being relegated from the old first division. Two goals from George Anderson secured victory for United on an embarrassing Good Friday afternoon at Old Trafford – and they ultimately finished one place and one point above the relegation zone.

But with football about to be suspended due to the First World War, players from both sides saw the game as an opportunity to reclaim some of the money they would lose if their careers were cut short, with bookmakers odds of 7/1 offered for a 2-0 win for the struggling home side.

United's Sandy Turnbull, who would later be killed in the Battle of Arras, was one of three United players suspended indefinitely following an FA investigation. Teammates Arthur Whalley and Enoch West were also found to have conspired with Liverpool quartet Jackie Sheldon, Tom Miller, Bob Pursell and Thomas Fairfoul. The investigation found no evidence that either club was aware of the scandal and therefore the result was allowed to stand.

May 21, 1977: Liverpool 1 Man Utd 2

Liverpool finished the season as Champions of England and Champions of Europe, but their hopes of becoming the first English club to achieve the Treble were ended by their biggest rivals in the FA Cup final.

Bob Paisley's men arrived at Wembley having retained the old First Division title one point ahead of Manchester City and were red-hot favorites to win the Double for the first time.

All three goals were scored in an explosive nine-minute period early in the second half. Stuart Pearson's opener for Tommy Docherty's side was quickly canceled out by Jimmy Case's spectacular volley.

But Jimmy Greenhoff inadvertently became United's match winner when Lou Macari's off-target shot stung him in the diaphragm and went into the goal.

Four days later the Mertseysiders traveled to Rome to beat Borussia Mönchengladbach 3-1 to win the European Cup for the first time – but their chance at history had ended before the Twin Towers.

April 26, 1992: Liverpool 2 Man Utd 0

United looked certain to end their 25-year wait for the title, until a nine-day nightmare that culminated in a defeat at Anfield that allowed Leeds United to wrest the crown from them just hours later.

Alex Ferguson's men had led for most of the season, but a 1-1 draw with Luton on Easter Monday, just two days after beating Southampton, was the start of a dip. Just 48 hours after the stalemate at Kenilworth Road came a 2-1 home defeat to Nottingham Forest and two days later United lost 1-0 at West Ham.

Liverpool would finish a disappointing sixth place, but Anfield smelled blood as United limped into their fifth game in just eleven days. Ian Rush scored his long-awaited first goal against United before Mark Walters sealed the win late on in front of a barking Kop.

January 24, 1999: Man Utd 2 Liverpool 1

United's historic Treble triumph included many defining moments of truth, but none more so than when Liverpool were given the chance to halt their march towards immortality in the FA Cup.

Gerard Houllier's side led for 85 minutes after Michael Owen headed them into a third-minute lead, but in a dramatic finish that helped forge the Class of 92 legend, the home side stormed back into the fevered Old Trafford crowd to delight, supported by 8,000 traveling fans.

Dwight Yorke equalized before Ole Gunnar Solskjaer illustrated his dexterity for an injury-time winner by firing home in front of an ecstatic Stretford End.

Four months later, United came from behind to beat Tottenham to win the Premier League before completing the double by beating Newcastle 2–0 in the FA Cup final.

The Treble dream became reality when another astonishing late comeback broke Bayern Munich's hearts in the Champions League final in Barcelona.

March 17, 2024: Man Utd 4 Liverpool 3

There was talk of Jurgen Klopp leaving Liverpool with a Quadruple when the Merseysiders traveled to Old Trafford in the FA Cup quarter-finals, but the aftershocks of an extra-time defeat would leave their season in shambles.

Klopp's team had already won the EFL Cup, progressed to the quarter-finals of the Europa League and moved level with Arsenal at the top of the Premier League.

Twice they looked on course for the semi-finals, with goals late in the first half from Alexis Mac Allister and Mo Salah putting them ahead after Scott McTominay had given United an early lead.

When Antony struck for the home side to send the match into extra time, Liverpool led again after 105 minutes through Harvy Elliott, before Marcus Rashford's equalizer and Amad Diallo's dramatic stoppage time strike kept Erik ten Hag's side on course to defeat Manchester to meet and defeat. City in the final.

When Liverpool returned to Old Trafford the following month, they never recovered after needing a late Salah penalty to salvage a point. Over the next twenty days they were knocked out of Europe by Atalanta and dropped out of the title race with losses to Crystal Palace and Everton and a draw against West Ham.

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