Manchester United vs Liverpool: Derby preview

By Accuscore on January 12, 2013

Written by Shahan Ahmed
Twitter @Perfectpass

Manchester United take up arms in defense of Old Trafford as Liverpool comes to pay a visit on Sunday. Not only is this the classic North West Derby, it features the top two strikers in England, and both Luis Suarez and Robin Van Persie are in sizzling form.

United and Liverpool, respectively, have only played two matches in 2013, and Van Persie and Suarez have already combined for six goals and an assist in the New Year.

At the moment, Van Persie leads the race for the Golden Boot over Suarez 16 to 15, but Suarez’s impact on his team must be statistically acknowledged as more vital.

After 21 rounds, Suarez has netted 44 percent of his team’s goals this season; if assists are included, Suarez has directly created or finished 53 percent of Liverpool’s goals this season.

Van Persie has a mere 30 percent of his team’s goals. Van Persie has six assists to Suarez’s three, but the Dutchman has still only created or finished 41 percent of Manchester United’s goals.

Suarez is unimpressed.

Actually, considering United is seven points clear at the top of the table and Liverpool are seven points back of the final Champions League spot, Van Persie likely does not much care for whether Suarez is impressed or not.

Simply put, United has a better attacking football team than Liverpool (and everyone else in the Premier League) even with Wayne Rooney injured. Van Persie is 56 percent to score according to AccuScore (a company that calculates these things), meaning he’s more likely to score than not score. Suarez is 43 percent to score, but he is projected to take more shots than his Dutch counterpart because, well, Suarez paints nearly every Reds attack.

As their names suggest, neither Suarez nor Van Persie are strikers of English decent. In fact, none of the English Premier League’s top four scorers are even British—Michu and Demba Ba being the other two lethal finishers.

Tottenham’s Jermain Defoe is the top scoring royal subject, and he sits on 10 goals—well behind Dutchman Robin Van Persie’s 16 league-leading goals.

Steven Gerrard, Raheem Sterling, Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez, and Shinji Kagawa should all play a part in a match the whole globe should be interested in watching.

This one is worth finding in your local time zone … Suarez, Van Persie, Manchester United, and Liverpool from Old Trafford.

Sunday.