3 To See – Liverpool, Fenerbahce, River Plate – Derby Day (25.10.09)

Last week’s Three to See saw wins for Spurs and Blackburn and a goalless draw between Valencia and FC soon-to-be-given-a-Rubin-awakening Barcelona. This Sunday three of the greatest derbies in world football take place all on the same day, so choosing a 3 To See was pretty straightforward:

1, Liverpool vs Manchester United (English Premier League) 14.00 GMT, Sunday 25th October 2009

England’s two most successful clubs go head-to-head at Anfield as Liverpool look to bounce back from four straight defeats to Fiorentina, Chelsea, Sunderland and Olympique Lyonnais against the league champions.

A good proportion of the spectacle on Sunday will revolve not around events on the pitch but those off it. The banner you see above was on display at Anfield in the early 90s after United had won their first title under Ferguson and 8th in their history. ‘Come back when you’ve won 18′ was the message from the Kop. Well, just as requested United will be back on Sunday with 18 titles under their belt, and their fans intend to rub it in by taking thousands of Cantona masks to Liverpool to celebrate the occasion.

United fans will also continue the mockery by trying to smuggle in beach balls by the dozen after Sunderland’s infamous beach ball winning goal against Liverpool last weekend. Meanwhile, 1,000 Liverpool fans are planning to march in protest against their American owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks prior to kickoff. All signs point towards a hot atmosphere at Anfield then, and that’s without even mentioning the inflammatory presence of Michael Owen in United colours.

Despite both sides struggling with injuries to key players (Rooney, Torres, Gerrard, Giggs, Fletcher) this should be a cracker.

2, Fenerbahce vs Galatasaray (Turkcell Süper Lig) 18.00 GMT, Sunday 25th October 2009

Events at Anfield are then followed by the so-called ‘battle of the Bosphorus’ in Turkey, as Fenerbahce host staunch rivals Galatasaray. Besiktas may be Turkish champions this year but that does little to dampen the animosity between these two Instanbul outfits, who currently sit 1st and 3rd respectively.

Former Barcelona manager Frank Rijkaard has revitalised a Galatasaray team that finished 5th last season by bringing in the likes of Elano and Kader Keita, and while they do still leak goals Gala do look good going forward. With 5 goals to his name Milan Baros, operating in the lone striker role, is the league’s top scorer. Harry Kewell, an important player for Rijkaard, misses out through injury.

With the fairly unspectacular Luis Aragones era now a distant memory, Fenerbahce sit pretty at the top of the Turkcell Süper Lig with 8 wins and 1 defeat in 9 games. In his second stint at the club German coach Christoph Daum (who won 2 league titles in his first spell) has fine-tuned this new look Fener into a side with the potential to match his previous achievements. A win for the Yellow Canaries would be most welcome for Daum, particularly if he can help them emulate their 4-1 home thrashing of their great rivals last season.

3, River Plate vs Boca Juniors (Argentine Apertura Championship) 20.15 GMT, Sunday 25th October 2009

By way of preview for this one I recommend you check out Gregory Sica’s superb piece for Sports Illustrated. While I don’t agree with it all (River will always be able to attract South America’s best players, they just need to get their house in order) it gives a good insight into both sides’ problems heading into the superclasico.

The fact both Boca and River are struggling in some ways only adds further importance to Sunday’s game. Every year, the number one demand of both Boca and River fans is that they win this match – for some it comes as a higher priority than winning the league. So with both sides’ title prospects slipping away the significance of this one is, as always, huge.

Argentinian Football, Boca Juniors, English Premier League, Fenerbahce, Galatasaray, Liverpool, Manchester United, River Plate, Three to See, Turkish Super Lig