Michael Carrick has pleaded with Manchester United fans to keep the peace when his side face bitter rivals Liverpool in an emotionally charged clash at Anfield this weekend.
United’s visits to Liverpool are always potentially explosive given the animosity between supporters, but the buildup to this season’s clash is especially tense as it is the club’s first home match since the release of an explosive report into the Hillsborough tragedy.
The report cleared Liverpool fans of any blame for the deaths of 96 of their own supporters during crushing on the terraces before and during the 1989 FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest at Sheffield Wednesday’s Hillsborough, but United fans, who have often taunted their rivals about Hillsborough in the past, engaged in anti-Liverpool chants during last weekend’s win over Wigan Athletic, raising fears they would do the same at Anfield and potentially spark serious crowd disorder.
Photo: AFP
Carrick, who scored United’s winner in their 1-0 UEFA Champions League victory over Galatasaray in midweek, admits there is huge responsibility on both players and fans alike to ensure there are no ugly incidents tomorrow.
“After what has gone on there is added responsibility on the players for everything to go smoothly. We will be doing our utmost to make sure that is the case,” Carrick said. “It is a heated game because it is a great football match. It is a rivalry of two great clubs with great histories and traditions. It is what makes the game so special, a classic game worldwide. Hopefully, it will be a cracking game of football because it is vital that after Sunday, everyone is talking about the football.”
While all eyes will be on any potential flash points at Anfield, the fixture is crucial for both teams and for vastly different reasons.
Second-placed United have failed to win any of their last five trips to Liverpool, but they look to have a golden opportunity to end that run against Brendan Rodgers’ side, who are struggling at the wrong end of the table after opening the season without a win in their first four league games.
Also tomorrow, champions Manchester City will aim to bounce back from their misery in Madrid when they host in-form Arsenal.
City threw away a 2-1 lead in the closing minutes against Real Madrid, eventually losing 3-2 in the Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday to open their UEFA Champions League campaign on a low note.
However, Yaya Toure, City’s midfield powerhouse, believes the experience of taking on European giants like Real will be invaluable in the long run.
“I think we played against a fantastic team. Real Madrid have a big history, they are a big club. It was quite good for us to play against them to see what level we are at now,” Toure said.
While City were losing in Madrid, third-placed Arsenal secured their third successive victory in all competitions thanks to a 2-1 win over French champions Montpellier Herault.
Arsenal’s Spanish midfielder Mikel Arteta believes one of the keys to that run is the good form of unheralded fullbacks Carl Jenkinson and Kieran Gibbs.
“I think they’ve been very consistent,” Arteta said. “Gibbsy has been playing really well. I think he’s finding himself more comfortable going forwards. Carl’s had four or five games under his belt and you can see he’s confident. Against Montpellier he put a brilliant cross in for Gervinho to score the goal. That’s what we need, because we’re missing players.”
Elsewhere, Chelsea, held by Juventus in midweek, will look to secure their first win in four games in all competitions when they host Stoke City, while rock-bottom Southampton bid for their first point of the season against Aston Villa.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite