There is nothing like a fixture between Liverpool and Manchester United, English football’s two most successful clubs and, arguably, its fiercest rivals, to get pulses racing and tempers flaring, especially when there is so much at stake, and the appetite was only whetted further yesterday by more managerial jousting.

With José Mourinho, the former Chelsea manager, long gone, Rafael BenÍtez needs someone to spar with and the Liverpool manager served only to raise the temperature before Sunday’s eagerly awaited showdown at Old Trafford by accusing Sir Alex Ferguson of attempting to influence the referee.

Ferguson talked yesterday about the need for referees to afford Cristiano Ronaldo more protection, which was no surprise, given that Steve Bennett is scheduled to take charge of a match that could have huge repercussions as far as the title race and fight for fourth place are concerned. Two of the three red cards Ronaldo has received during his five seasons with United have been issued by Bennett, whom Ferguson suggested would have taken “great delight” in sending off the Portugal winger for head-butting Richard Hughes, the Portsmouth midfield player, in the 1-1 draw at Fratton Park in August. Ferguson also accused Bennett of failing to protect Ronaldo after the player was sent off for a reckless lunge during the 3-1 defeat away to Manchester City in January 2006, but BenÍtez has urged the official not to pay attention to his United counterpart’s inferences.

“Ferguson is clever, that is clear,” BenÍtez said. “After a difficult game [against Portsmouth at Old Trafford in the FA Cup sixth round, which they lost 1-0], he was talking about referees and before an important game [with us] he is talking about protecting Ronaldo. The referees, though, have experience and they will know Ferguson. This kind of treatment must be the same for all the teams and all the players.

“I wasn’t surprised last week to hear what he [Ferguson] was saying. I just want to go into the game with the same situation as the other team. I think the referee has experience and is strong enough so I don’t see it being a problem.”

BenÍtez believes that it is just as important that Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard, Liverpool’s two most creative players, are given protection. “Ferguson is very clever and has a lot of experience,” the Spaniard said. “I don’t know what he was thinking about exactly, but if you need to protect Ronaldo, you also need to protect Torres and Gerrard and all the skilful players in the league.”

Ferguson said before the start of the season that Ronaldo could be “seriously injured” if referees did not clamp down heavily on rough treatment at the hands of opposition players and it is an issue that he believes has yet to be properly addressed. Ronaldo is among the five most fouled players in the league, with 61 offences against him this season, but he has not won as many free kicks as Mikel Arteta at Everton (78), Ashley Young, of Aston Villa, (77) or David Bentley, the Blackburn Rovers midfield player (72).

“I will continue to hammer away at the need for protection for football’s most skilful players,” Ferguson said. “The Arsenal manager, Arsène Wenger, recently complained that his team are on the receiving end of more fouls than any other. I’m not so sure about that, but what I do know is that Cristiano Ronaldo must be one of the most fouled players in the league.

“Those fouls are frustrating, especially for Ronaldo, and I have nothing but admiration for the way he picks himself up and keeps running at people. Often opponents try to indicate that he has dived. To disguise their shortcomings, they accuse him of falling deliberately.” Lyons have been fined SwFr5,000 (about £2,500) after Uefa, European football’s governing body, ruled that supporters of the club had aimed lasers at Ronaldo during their Champions League round of 16, first-leg tie in France last month.

Ferguson is to sit down with Ben Foster to discuss the prospect of the goalkeeper going out on loan before the end of the season.



Drawn to each other

In the past two seasons, eight of the 19 matches between the Big Four have ended as draws. There has been an average of 1.9 goals per game, but that has been boosted by the Arsenal v Liverpool meetings, where the average has been 3.3 per match. United v Liverpool games have produced only four goals in the three meetings since August 2006 and Chelsea v Arsenal has had five.