Two great football rivals must put on a real show of solidarity

Sir Alex Ferguson claimed last week that there are times to show your greatness and I cannot think of a more appropriate occasion for everybody connected with Liverpool and Manchester United to do that than at Anfield on Sunday.

The game is still six days away, but the build-up to what remains the biggest fixture in English football is already being overshadowed by negativity and everything that is wrong about the rivalry between the two clubs.

I played in enough Liverpool-Manchester United games during my 14 years at Anfield to understand that that rivalry will never go away.

The success of each club might fluctuate, with one outstripping the other from time to time, but Liverpool and United will always measure themselves against each other because no other club in the country can come close to matching the longevity and scale of their successes on the pitch.

Ferguson and United continue to use Liverpool's five European Cups as their yardstick of greatness in the Champions League, while, from a Liverpool perspective, it still hurts to see United having 19 league championships on their honours' list after Liverpool had led the way for so long with 18.

Wherever you go in the world, the only two English clubs that matter in every corner of the globe are Liverpool and Manchester United, simply because of the history and tradition of both clubs.

That reality has led to a great deal of respect between Anfield and Old Trafford, with senior figures at both clubs enjoying a better relationship than many would expect.

But there have been times when the hostility off the pitch has gone too far and, despite reports of anti-Liverpool chanting at Old Trafford during United's game against Wigan on Saturday, I genuinely believe that Sunday's game at Anfield provides an opportunity for the two clubs to show their greatness.

Whatever Liverpool decide to do this weekend to honour the memory of those killed at Hillsborough, United as a club will understand the necessity to mark the first game at Anfield following the release of documents which proved, once and for all, that Liverpool supporters were not to blame for the tragic events in Sheffield on April 15, 1989.

United have endured their own devastating tragedy, losing eight players in the Munich air disaster in 1958, and the club continues to commemorate the loss of life with each passing year.

And that sense of loss is another element that links the two clubs and creates an empathy between players, management and supporters.

When a minority element sing chants mocking those tragedies, it merely shames the vast majority of supporters on both sides who, in Ferguson's words, have contributed to the greatness of Liverpool and United.

At Anfield on Sunday, the concern is that a minority will once again generate the wrong headlines and damage the name of the club that they claim to support.

But Liverpool and United are bigger than that and, hopefully, the supporters will realise that when it comes to reflecting on the events of the past week in relation to Hillsborough.

If Liverpool decide that it would be appropriate to hold a minute's silence before the game at Anfield, football has shown in the past that even the biggest rivals can put their animosity aside when the occasion demands it. When Manchester City played at Old Trafford in a game marking the 50th anniversary of Munich in February 2008, there was genuine trepidation before that fixture because United planned a minute's silence to honour those killed.

But rather than being marred by chants or jeers by a minority, the silence was observed impeccably by everybody and City, and football as a whole, emerged with tremendous credit.

Everton supporters observed a minute's silence at Old Trafford following the death of Sir Matt Busby in 1994 and the Kop also fell silent to pay tribute to the former United manager on the same weekend.

So rather than allow next Sunday's game to be overshadowed by what might happen on the terraces or what might happen when Luis Suarez walks past Patrice Evra in the pre-match handshake, we should focus instead on two great clubs doing the right thing at the right time.

Because of the popularity of Liverpool and United, it is a game that will be beamed across the globe and the outcome, good or bad, will be talked about for days and weeks.

As Ferguson said, there are times to show your greatness and Liverpool and United can do that this weekend.