I would be absolutely amazed if Wayne Rooney does not start at Anfield on Saturday.

I know everyone will be looking at him after that red card for England and we all know he is going to get some awful abuse from the Liverpool fans, but there is no way if you are Manchester United, you leave him out - unless he's injured.

Fighting fit: Rooney and Gerrard will both be ready for battle

I have to say, I was staggered at his moment of madness in Montenegro. Normally you can see a chain of events that leads up to these incidents, be it a loss of form, or a running battle with a defender, but there was no evidence of that whatsoever.

I have heard people say it was because he was up front on his own, but that is absolute rubbish; he was up front on his own in Bulgaria and scored twice and produced a world-class display.

Yes, it was a poor touch that led to the kick out, but the only thing that I can think contributed to it, was those events off the field, involving his family. History suggests that when Wayne has something on his mind, he doesn't perform that well. Remember last season when he was going to leave United? His form was well below par. As soon as he made the decision to stay, he started scoring goals and playing well again.

There was no indication of any loss of form heading to Montenegro; he was playing so well, looking so sharp in his all-round game and had scored 11 goals in his last 10 appearances. It doesn't get any better than that, yet he went and pressed the self-destruction button. It seems to have blown over for the time being and now we know how long the ban is going to be, I can't see there being any fall-out, any hangover from last Friday.

Believe me, he will be back on form for the trip to Anfield. He is back with his mates, he has the best manager in the world at dealing with these situations looking out for him, and if there is one game he wants to show everyone he is okay again in, it's Liverpool.

Wayne Rooney is 9/2 to score the first goal at Anfield

Fiercest

People might be wondering if Sir Alex Ferguson will be tempted to rest him, take him out of the firing line, but why would he? Trust me, Rooney will get the same amount of abuse he would have got before all this came up. Liverpool fans don't like him and he doesn't like them. Simple as that.

It is part of the fiercest rivalry in our game. Believe me, Liverpool against Manchester United will always be that way, whether Wayne Rooney is involved or not. It was like that in my day and still is.

Even when we went away with England, we would try and mix with the Arsenal lads and everyone else, but the United players just kept themselves to themselves. There was nothing nasty between us in that sense, but everyone involved in this fixture knows just how deep it runs.

As captain of Liverpool Football Club, Steven Gerrard knows it, more than most. Which is why he will be relishing this, chomping at the bit to start. And I think he will.

Of course, with an injury as serious as his, there is no way they will take any sort of risk, but there will have been dialogue between him and Kenny Dalglish all week and I am sure Stevie will be telling his manager he is 100 per cent fit.

Steven Gerrard is 7/2 to score in 90 minutes against Manchester United.

Honest

Where does he fit in to the side, though? To be quite honest, wherever he wants.

I am pretty sure Kenny will want to get the best out of his skipper and although it might mean shuffling things about a little, I am sure Gerrard will play where he wants, so to speak. We certainly won't be seeing Kenny do what England managers have done and stick him on the left wing.

Wherever Steven Gerrard plays though, he will make Liverpool a better team. He could play just off Luis Suarez as the forward of a midfield three, or he could come into a normal central midfield role.

Charlie Adam has had a couple of tough games for Scotland this week, so he will need assessing, while Jordan Henderson and Stewart Downing will come back from their England duties on a high. Lucas for me, has to play, because he will be the one to take care of Rooney when he drops deep.

Dirk Kuyt did well against Everton and is the sort of player that will always do a good job. Craig Bellamy hasn't had much of a chance so far, but has done well when he's come on. The fact that Dalglish has so many options shows just what an improvement he has made with those new signings.

Playing Gerrard just behind a striker would work, but you wonder whether he, Suarez and Andy Carroll are the Holy Trinity Dalglish sees taking this side forward. Carroll got that goal in the Merseyside derby the other week and should still be buzzing.

Toughest

I think Dalglish has managed him superbly so far, so he might well stick with him; Suarez has been on international duty in Paraguay, so will need monitoring. But he strikes me as a player who does not want to miss a game, especially the big ones.

It's a tricky decision for Kenny because the one thing Liverpool can't afford to do, even though they are at home, is leave themselves too open. Nani, Ashley Young, Rooney and Anderson are made for counter-attacking football and can hit you hard if you're not careful. Anfield will demand that Liverpool push on, but they cannot afford to leave themselves exposed, because they will get punished.

United need to bounce back as well. I know they beat Norwich but their last away game at Stoke was a disappointing draw and their away form is not the best.

I know they have played Arsenal and Chelsea this season but that was at home; this might well be their biggest test so far - especially with a Champions League away game and then Man City to come.

This fixture is massive anyway, but if either side wins this it will really kick them on for another half-dozen games. Liverpool would get so much belief from this it would be untrue.

They've made a steady enough start but are still waiting for the new signings to bed in, but playing the champions is going to give them a really good idea of how far they've come in the time Dalglish has been in charge.

Liverpool are 20/1 to win the Barclays Premier League.

To see Jamie's prediction and Sky Bet tips, click on the video below...

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