Premier League’s oldest rivalries clash on Sunday

Four teams locked in a fierce century-long struggle for supremacy.

KARACHI:

In 1913, Arsenal moved to North London. In 1956, the Busby Babes won their first ever league title for Manchester United at an average age of 21. In 1959, Bill Shankly became the manager of Liverpool.

These are some of the incidents that have come to define the two biggest rivalries in English football – Arsenal versus Tottenham and Liverpool versus Manchester United – and on Sunday, the teams will write their latest epic.

More recently, images of a blonde Fernando Torres tormenting Nimanja Vidic and of Robbie Keane running in jubilation, having scored after Arsenal stopped playing as Gilberto Silva and Emmanuel Eboue lay injured on the ground come to mind as iconic incidents that have shaped the rivalries.

For the first time in living memory, none of the four teams come into the matches as genuine title contenders. As Chelsea and Manchester City buy their way to success, the trio of traditional juggernauts – Arsenal, Liverpool and United – have all fallen behind at one point or the other.

However, while Sunday’s matches may not necessarily decide the title, they may still end up deciding the status quo.

If Arsenal triumph at the White Hart Lane and do a league double over their neighbours, then not only will it be a significant morale boost but it will also mean that they will be right back in the title mix, leaving them only four points behind league leaders Chelsea.

It was a 2-0 win at the Allianz Arena last season that invigorated Arsenal, resulting in an incredible run that resulted in them claiming the last Champions League spot at Tottenham’s expense. Arsene Wenger would be hoping to use their 1-1 draw against Bayern Munich as the catalyst for a similar revival.

“We had a good result at Bayern,” said Wenger. “But we must continue and have no more weak moments .”

A win for Tottenham will do them a world of good as they plummet deeper with every match - having lost to Norwich City in the league before slumping to a shock 3-1 defeat against Benfica that all but guarantees their exit from the Europa League.

After almost two decades, Liverpool will be going into the match against United at Old Trafford as clear favourites. With both team heavily reliant on their striking pair, the performances of the four front men may end up deciding the tie.

A win against their old title rivals would allow Liverpool to enter the title race. Liverpool have scored the most goals in the Premier League and Rodgers will relish the prospect of unleashing his front four against the brittle United defence.

However, he believes that silverware, rather than success against United, will be the barometer of his team’s progress. “The benchmark for us is to be the best,” he said. “We are always challenging the team at the top; not United, who are further down.”

While United are almost certainly out of the race for next year’s Champions League spots, a loss against Liverpool might be the final nail in the coffin for under fire David Moyes, who understands the importance of the tie.

“Liverpool are having a very good season and we have to do everything we possibly can to beat them,” said Moyes.

If Arsenal and Liverpool come away from the tricky fixtures with vital away wins then the title will once again be a four-horse race and the results may shape a new big-four in the years to come.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 16^th, 2014.

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