JOIN USTuesday's Manchester derby is the highlight of five midweek matches as the Premier League continues almost without pausing for breath following another eventful weekend's football in England.
Manchester United, 18 points behind leaders Chelsea, have no chance of retaining their title but are keen to stop third-placed Manchester City succeeding them as champions.Badly beaten 4-1 by their local rivals in September, United have home advantage this time and go into the game buoyed by successive victories over Olympiakos, to reach the Champions League quarterfinal, and West Ham.
Saturday's 2-0 win at Upton Park, where acting captain Wayne Rooney scored one of the goals of the season from more than 50 metres, helped ease the pressure from manager David Moyes, who has struggled in his first season after taking over from Sir Alex Ferguson. "You get three points for winning any game but there is an added importance of winning the big games," Moyes told reporters.
City trail Chelsea by six points but have three games in hand and with a superior goal difference would go top by winning two of them. They will again be without their leading scorer, Argentinian striker Sergio Aguero, who has a hamstring injury but captain Vincent Kompany is available after suspension.
City have been solid in defence, not conceding in the last three league games, but despite scoring five times without reply against bottom-of-the-table Fulham on Saturday, their total of 76 goals is now six fewer than rampant Liverpool.
Brendan Rodgers's side have joined the title chase with six successive victories, scoring 24 goals in the process.
Having won 6-3 at Cardiff at the weekend, they will be expected to defeat another of the relegation-threatened sides, Sunderland, at Anfield on Wednesday.
The combination of Uruguay's Luis Suarez and England's Daniel Sturridge continues to demolish opposing defences.