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Andrew Leci

Luis Suarez will shake Patrice Evra's hand on Saturday at Old Trafford.

Thank heavens for that.

The world was waiting, with bated breath - taking a brief time out from contemplating the alleged atrocities currently taking place in Syria.

Unfortunately, the Suarez/Evra issue is set to provide more of a backdrop to Saturday's match between Manchester United and Liverpool than, say, a title race.

This hasn't been a feature in clashes between the two sides for longer than Liverpool fans will care to remember, and just for all you historians out there, it is worth reflecting on the fact that since the Anfield boys picked up their last English league title (back in 1990), Manchester United, their arch rivals, have picked up no less than 12.

It's interesting to reflect on the changes in the balance of power in football, in the north west of England.

Until the early 1970s, honours were even, with 7 titles a-piece, before Liverpool went on to dominate domestic (and some would say European) football in the subsequent two decades.

Liverpool picked up a fairly impressive 11 league titles in the space of 18 seasons, to leave their Manchester rivals trailing in their wake. It was a supremacy that no one thought any other club would get even close to threatening.

Cue....Alex Ferguson.

As most Manchester United supporters will know, it took Fergie a few seasons to get his act together and stamp his mark on the club, but having won his first league title with United in 1993 (the first ever season of the Premier League, incidentally), he's made something of a habit of it ever since.

11 titles followed that first one, as last season, Manchester United finally overhauled Liverpool's seemingly insurmountable total of 18, and the rest of history, as they rarely say, is in the making.

The thing is, not even the most optimistic Liverpool fan will suggest that Saturday's clash will be an encounter between two clubs who are title contenders this season.

United continue to keep their noisy City neighbours honest at the top, but Liverpool are no less than 18 points off the Barclays Premier League summit, and even their hopes of a place in the UEFA Champions League are hanging by a thread.

Any clash between Manchester United and Liverpool is eagerly anticipated, and it remains as arguably the most enduring rivalry in English football. But there isn't quite so much at stake this time round.

Don't get me wrong, it's a massively important game for both clubs, but for very different reasons, and perhaps it's fitting that the Evra/Suarez issue should be grabbing most of the headlines.

Strangely enough, having been up in the north west of England over the last couple of days, there has been more talk of Harry Redknapp, Fabio Capello and the next England manager, than Saturday's Old Trafford meeting.

This is something of a rarity in these climes, where, for the week before a Man Utd versus Liverpool clash, there would be talk of nothing else. Aliens could land in Salford, but if they didn't have a ticket for the game they'd probably be ignored and allowed to go about their business.

While Sir Alex Ferguson will be relatively happy with the status quo that exists between the two clubs, he will realise that right now, he has bigger fish to fry in the form of table-topping Manchester City.

Kenny Dalglish for his part, would like nothing better than to boost his side's hopes of a top 4 finish, while the possibility of derailing United's challenge for a 20th English league title will, I'm sure, be a delicious added bonus.