Football | Barclays Premier League | Dalglish looking for 'clean' United match

Friday 10th February 2012

Dalglish looking for 'clean' United match

Kenny Dalglish is hoping a line has been drawn under the Luis Suarez affair as Liverpool prepare to face Manchester United at Old Trafford on Saturday.

Suarez has served an eight-match ban after being found guilty of racially abusing United defender Patrice Evra earlier this season, and the two are likely to come up against each other again this weekend.

Dalglish has been outspoken in his criticism of the ban handed down to Suarez, but now wants all parties to take a "responsible" approach this weekend.

"Everyone involved, including the media, the supporters and both teams have a responsibility to ensure this weekend is remembered as a cracking game of football between two very good sides, rather than for anything else,'' he told liverpoolfc.tv.

"I thought everyone involved in the FA Cup tie at Anfield played their part in making sure that the match was played in the right way, so let's make sure that happens again this weekend.

"I'm sure people will want to talk about Luis Suarez but he accepted his ban, served his suspension and returned against Spurs on Monday.

"It's time for all of us to draw a line under what happened and move forward."

The Premier League has no plans to skip the pre-match handshake, as happened when QPR hosted Chelsea in the last round of the FA Cup.

A Manchester United victory would send them to the top of the Barclays Premier League, at least until Manchester City, who start the weekend two points clear, head to Aston Villa on Sunday.

However, Liverpool have their eyes on fifth place as Newcastle, five points above them, face a tricky match away to third-placed Tottenham in the evening fixture.

Harry Redknapp will take charge of Spurs having been cleared of all charges in his tax evasion trial on Wednesday.

But he is now facing mounting speculation about his England ambitions in the wake of Fabio Capello's resignation, just another distraction as Spurs attempt to keep pace with the Manchester clubs above them.

Chelsea, seven points adrift of Spurs after blowing a 3-0 lead to draw 3-3 with United last weekend, head to Everton while Arsenal, down in sixth and three points off the top four, are away to Martin O'Neill's resurgent Sunderland side.

Swansea against Norwich might have been expected to be a relegation battle, at least at the start of the season, but will instead be a match-up of two sides inside the top 10, with the Swans having been boosted by manager Brendan Rodgers signing a new contract this week.

At the bottom, relegation-threatened local rivals Bolton and Wigan go head to head at the Reebok. The two sides are separated within the bottom three by Blackburn, who host QPR.

Wolves take on West Brom in another derby of clubs in the lower reaches, while Stoke head to Fulham looking to arrest a run of three straight league defeats.