The Liverpool-Manchester United rivalry was and remains the largest the kingdom has to offer • Tonight (Sunday, 6:30 pm) they will meet at Anfield, and Klopp's team can take another step towards the first championship in 30 years • and thanks to Fernandinho

• Firmino and Mana in the clouds. Will they smile tonight too?

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  Reuters

If there's one thing that has left the head of Manchester United fans without the championship over the last seven years, it's that Liverpool have not won the title in this period either. Chelsea and Manchester City are another passive, blessed Lester City, but God forbid the Merseyside.

This is a long-standing, documented rivalry full of hatred, jealousy and quotes like that of Sir Alex Ferguson, who wanted - and succeeded - to "flip Liverpool from the throne" about eight to the Red Devils Manager. By helping United bypass the big rivalry in the title, the Scottish also set the new balance of power: United up, Liverpool down, these dictate the pace and those chasing.

That status was so ingrained and set for United people that Gary Neville allowed himself to say in August, when Liverpool was the European and United champions, that "Manchester will win another Premier League championship before Liverpool gets its first."

Five months later, and the evening of their match at Anfield, it is hard to think of a sentence more detached from reality. Liverpool with a historic record of 61 points from a possible 63 points and on their way to the first championship in 30 years, while United 27 points less and a surplus game, the only goal of which is to take a place in the first quarter.

Sulchiar. Mediocrity started long before he arrived // Photo: GettyImages

Jurgen Klopp’s team plays the best and most efficient football in the world, has not lost at home since April 2017, and is responsible for the best balance in the history of the five major leagues at this time of the season. And what about United? Lost to Arsenal. And these are not just the results. Liverpool has become stable, the one who has kept the same coach for five years while United swapped three, hurting the acquisition and advancing youngsters. Economic, marketing and image can also be declared a makeover. "20 years ago, United's success put all of Liverpool's failures under the microscope," former Liverpool coach Jamie Kragger wrote to The Guardian, "now the flip-flop has been reversed."

That reversal, which Alex Ferguson anticipated a couple of years ago, is noticeable when it comes to the two brakes that will play tonight - Virgil Van Dyke and Harry Maguire, the prized two in the history of the game. While for Liverpool, the Dutch brake represents its wonderful scouting system, the decline in detail and depth of thinking, at United the English brake represents the desire to emulate the big rivalry.

And it's not that Maguire is doing a bad job, it's simply impossible to compare his impact on the team to that of Van Dyke on Liverpool. The Dutch are surrounded by carefully selected players to match the style of the German coach, even if it is a down league, such as Giorgio Giannaldum and Andy Robertson, but at Manchester United it is hard to see an idea or method. So tonight Liverpool will not only want to take revenge on the 1: 1 from the first round and take another step toward the title, but also try to make it clear to United that right now - it can't be like that.