New signing Dimitar Berbatov set up Man United's goal

As two of the most successful teams in English football, tensions run high 形势紧张 whenever Liverpool and Manchester United meet on the pitch.

This Saturday, when the two old rivals faced each other at Liverpool's stadium Anfield, all the odds seemed in favour of Manchester United 曼联获胜的几率更大.

Not only had Man United won the last five contests between the clubs, they were also unveiling 首次出战 their new £30m (367m yuan) striker Dimitar Berbatov.

Liverpool, meanwhile, were missing both their star players: Spanish forward Fernando Torres and talismanic captain 能创造奇迹的队长 Steven Gerrard.

And sure enough it was the Red Devils 红魔的绰号 who started stronger in the match.

Liverpool fans must have feared the worst 担心最坏的结局 when Man United's Argentinian forward Carlos Tevez stunned 使（利物浦球迷）受惊 them with a goal after only two minutes following a great pass from debutant 首次亮相 Berbatov.

But their side clawed their way back 慢慢地恢复状态 into the game.

They drew level 打平 before half time after a gaffe 过失 by Man United keeper Van der Sar resulted in an own goal 乌龙球 by Wes Brown.

Then in the second half Liverpool began to dominate 控制球场, going 2-1 up when substitute Ryan Babel scored in the 77th minute to the delight of the Liverpool fans 使球迷极度喜悦.

It finished 2-1, with the result putting Liverpool joint top of the Premiership table 并列英超榜首, with both them and Chelsea on ten points. Last season's champions Manchester United, on the other hand, have only four points from three games.

Confidence and belief  It gives us belief and confidence because we've beaten the best team in Europe. It should spur us on, because we've not been playing too well.   Liverpool player, Jamie Carragher

Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher said the result would give them "belief and confidence".

He added the victory would "spur them on", meaning that it would encourage them to keep playing well in the matches ahead.

Carragher also said the result gave them "a bit of breathing space", referring to the six point gap between Liverpool and Manchester United in the Premiership table, which takes a bit of pressure off Liverpool.

Breathing space  It also gives us a bit of breathing space between us and United, and top is where a club like Liverpool should be.   Liverpool player, Jamie Carragher

The result can be seen as a setback 小挫折 to Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, who lambasted 严厉批评 his team for a very poor performance.

But the season is only a few weeks old and Ferguson refused to lose confidence.

He said: "You have to recover, that's the name of the game."

Name of the game  You have to recover, that's the name of the game.   Manchester United manager, Alex Ferguson

When he says recovery is the name of the game, Ferguson means recovery is the most important thing, or the key to success.

It certainly looks like this season is already shaping up very nicely 会成为精彩的一季, with Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool all playing strongly.

Manchester United will have Ronaldo back from injury soon and are expected to start playing well, but could their neighbours Manchester City be the surprise package 一支黑马球队 of the season?

Fresh from a takeover 并购 by a Middle Eastern company, Man City now appear to have access to near-limitless funds 无限度的资金 which will allow them to attract some of the world's top footballing talent.