Kenny Dalglish hails Welsh striker, Craig Bellamy’s performance against Manchester City but hopes the Red’s will follow his example come Saturday against United.
History, tradition and a hate for one’s neighbour are just a few ways one can describe the fierce encounters between Liverpool and Manchester United, with passionate being another.
Liverpool will go into the FA Cup clash against Manchester United fresh on the heels of marking their first return to Wembley in over 16 years after beating Premier League high-fliers Manchester City in the semi-final of the League Cup.
Steven Gerrard and Dirk Kuyt were superb on the night yet Craig Bellamy’s inspirational shift was the one that really made the difference and Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish is hoping that the entire team can emulate the Welshman.
He said, “His (Bellamy’s) performance gave everyone else in the team a lift, it gave the crowd a lift – everybody. But it’s not only Craig who can do that; there are other people in the team who can. He is one who seemed to grab the headlines after his performance on Wednesday, which is fantastic for him and great for us, but come Saturday it might be someone else.”
Liverpool are also looking to welcome back local lad, Jay Spearing back in to the line-up after the youth academy graduate recovered from the hamstring injury that had him on the sidelines over the past few weeks.
Whether or not he will be put into the starting eleven in such an intense tie is a doubt, however seeing how Charlie Adam has a tendency to give away a fair amount of free kick for rash tackles that may just be the case.
Dalglish chose to remain tight-lipped on the matter but did drop a subtle hint, “Jay looks a lot better than he was, so we might be adding to the squad rather than reducing it.”
Both sides will be hoping to avoid a repeat of the incident that marred the previous encounter between two sides when Liverpool striker was broiled in controversy for racially abusing Patrice Evra; however both managers are confident that that will not be the case.