Suarez in for hot reception
Racist snub is in the past, but tensions expected
CONTROVERSY stalks Luis Suarez more than any English Premier League player and the Liverpool striker will again be under the spotlight in tomorrow’s high-profile match against fierce rivals Manchester United.
The Uruguay international has found his touch in front of goal this season and scored 15 times in the league – second only to United’s Robin van Persie – but negative headlines are never far away.
Often criticised for his theatrical dives, Suarez stirred up another furore last Sunday by using his hand to score the winning goal in an FA Cup match against nonleague Mansfield.
Now, Suarez returns to Old Trafford for the first time since snubbing a prematch handshake with United defender Patrice Evra, reigniting a drawnout racism-related feud and ensuring he will receive a hot reception this weekend.
United manager Alex Ferguson described Suarez as a “disgrace” after that encounter in February but hopes all the talk this time will be about action on the field between England’s two most successful clubs.
“There will always be a certain build-up to a Manchester United-Liverpool game, simply because of the history between the two clubs,” Ferguson said.
“It brings its own agenda in terms of profile and pre-match discussion. Last year it was unfortunate with the Suarez behaviour. I think, hopefully, it is behind both clubs now and we can just look forward to the game.”
Gone are the days when United and Liverpool went head-tohead for the title – the last of Liverpool’s 18 English championships came in 1990. Liverpool is down in eighth place after 21 matches, already 21 points behind leaders United.
“Liverpool probably haven’t done as well as they’d have liked over the last few years and they’d probably admit that,” veteran United midfielder Paul Scholes said.
Yet there are signs that Liverpool are slowly on the rise. Under the leadership of highly rated new manager Brendan Rodgers, the team has won three of its last four games by three-goal margins. — Sapa