Can Liverpool Exact Revenge Against the United in January

Not a lot has gone Liverpool's way so far this year.  The team has only a single victory so far and are out of the hunt in the Premier League.  Sitting at 1-3-3, there may be little left to look forward to for the club except maybe a chance at knocking off their biggest rivals in Manchester United on January 12th at Old Trafford.

The two squads came together on September 23rd and Liverpool put on a spirited contest against the highest scoring squad at present in the Premier League.  Liverpool played for 51 minutes with 10 men yet still led after the interval.

If you were to read recounts of the match, it is clear that Liverpool was the better team that day.  Gerrard scored at the 46th minute to give Liverpool the 1-0 lead.  After the score was tied in 51st minute, a late disputed penalty kick in the 81st minute led to United taking their only lead of the game.  Liverpool was unfortunate to lose that day, and many felt that the better team lost that day.

Liverpool will have to be firing on all cylinders when they face United on January 12th.  Steven Gerrard and Luis Suarez are the squads main scoring threats with Gerrard having 18 shots on goal so far and Suarez a respectable 40.

United has a few factors working against them as well.  Their performance against Liverpool has been indicative to much of their season.   The team is playing horribly defensively and has fell behind in most of their games during the Premier League season.  If Gerrard and Suarez continue to get shots at the rate they have so far, they are sure to put a couple in the net.

United will also be under huge pressure to perform for their new sponsor bwin.  They signed a new deal with the gaming giant last month.  ManU's new sponsor had merger talks with other gambling giants in the past year which were unsuccessful and instead decided to dedicate more resources to football.  As such, the team will be under even greater pressure to perform on the field.

In the end, this game could come down to who plays the better defensive game.  Both squads have had trouble keeping the ball out of net this year and the game will likely come down to which team's goalkeeper can keep the ball out of net the most often.  Pepe Reina currently has as many saves as goals conceded and will need to keep that later stat as close to zero as possible in the next encounter.

Liverpool probably will not be given favorable odds in the next encounter based on their performance so far.  However, conditions are favorable for the team to prove the naysayers wrong.  With any luck, Liverpool will be able to exact an ounce of retribution in January and show just how undeserved the September 28th loss was.