There have been Liverpool versus Manchester United fixtures in the past that have decided title races. These two old rivals have also met in a number of cup finals down the years.
Sunday's encounter at Anfield undoubtedly has less riding on it but victory would still mean everything to both sets of supporters.
Erik ten Hag's resurgent United could still win the Premier League title, if they can cling to the coat-tails of Arsenal and Manchester City during the run-in. But it looks a tall order.
Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool come into the match some way adrift of the Champions League places in what might be described as a 'transitional' season.
There's considerable flux off the pitch, too, for both of these giants of the English game. Their respective owners put them up for sale late last year but have since rowed back a little on completely relinquishing control.
That has created considerable uncertainty. At least two serious bids have come in for United while interest in Liverpool was more limited.
Both are in need of a financial boost to keep pace with their competitors but which club is the more attractive? Sportsmail compares them on and off the pitch.
HISTORY AND TROPHIES
United and Liverpool are the most decorated clubs in English football but who actually has the more silverware is a bone of contention.
It all comes down to whether you include the Charity/Community Shield in your calculations, with United winning the season curtain-raiser 21 times in their history to Liverpool's 16.
If you include it, United have just moved level on the overall trophy count-up again by winning the Carabao Cup last Sunday, with the two tied at 67-67. Obviously Liverpool fans would seek to exclude it.
Liverpool themselves had surged in front over recent seasons - while United endured a six-year trophy drought, Liverpool won their sixth European Cup/Champions League, a long overdue Premier League and two domestic cups last season.
The team from Merseyside certainly have the edge when it comes to European honours, with twice as many European Cup wins as United and two more UEFA Cups/Europa Leagues.
United shade it 20-19 when it comes to league wins and are ahead 12-8 when it comes to the FA Cup. Despite United's win last weekend, Liverpool lead on League Cup wins 9-6.
In terms of past meetings, United have won 83, Liverpool 70, with 58 draws.
What can be said with certainty is that both clubs enjoy rich histories and pedigrees when it comes to winning trophies.
While the two clubs are linked by glory, they also have tragedy in common. Matt Busby's first great United team were destroyed in the 1958 Munich Air Disaster, while 97 Liverpool fans died in the 1989 Hillsborough Disaster.
SQUAD STRENGTH
This glorious history comes in handy when it comes to attracting the best footballers in the world, though both United and Liverpool would also point to a conveyor belt of homegrown talents that has come through their academies.
United drifted along in the decade following the retirement of legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013 and made some questionable moves in the transfer market.
A decidedly scattergun transfer policy led them to spend a British record £89million on Paul Pogba, £59.7m on Angel Di Maria and lavish wages approaching £500,000-a-week on Alexis Sanchez with little back in return.
Their recruitment since Ten Hag took over, and John Murtough came in as football director, has been far smarter with recruits from last summer Casemiro, Lisandro Martinez and Christian Eriksen performing well.
But that is just the beginning of the required rebuild to get United challenging for the Premier League and other major honours once more.
United lack strength in depth in several positions and, as well as the likes of Marcus Rashford, Casemiro, Luke Shaw and Bruno Fernandes have played this season, they have been running the risk of burn-out.
Although Transfermarkt estimates United already have a squad worth £675million, it's clear it will take another two or three transfer windows to get them strong enough to properly compete.
What's more, having blown their budget last summer thanks to Ten Hag's insistence on signing Antony from his old club Ajax for £83m, they'll have to sell to buy in the summer or fall foul of UEFA sustainability rules.
Ten Hag will likely prioritise a centre forward and another midfielder, which will further strengthen the team as he aims to restore United to past glories.
Liverpool's squad is also in the early phase of a reconstruction and on the evidence of some of their results and performances this season, there's some way to run yet.
Klopp's time in charge of the Reds peaked when they won the Champions League in 2019 and their first league title in three decades the following year.
However, the great challenge for any manager is to build a second outstanding team and know when to refresh things, even if that means moving star players on.
Liverpool have a total squad value estimated at about £830m and big name arrivals this season have been £65m striker Darwin Nunez and £37m PSV winger Cody Gakpo.
They joined stars such as Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, Alisson and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
This summer's priority will be in midfield, with England star Jude Bellingham prominent on the club's shopping list, though a failure to qualify for the Champions League means he may be tempted elsewhere.
Klopp has delivered so much success to Anfield over the past seven years, he is certainly allowed one poor season but it's clear an overhaul is required to prevent things becoming stale.
FINANCES AND OWNERSHIP
A pertinent item at the moment given both clubs are on the market.
In November last year, the Glazer family, who have owned United since 2005, invited offers for either a total buy-out of the club or partial control in return for investment.
It was a huge moment and enthusiastically welcomed by the considerable numbers of United fans who despise the American ownership and their debt-laden running of the club.
United's latest financial figures, released in September, showed net debt had risen from £419.5m to £514.9m - or 23 per cent - over the course of last season.
The fact the Glazers had also taken £33.6m worth of dividends out of the club's coffers for themselves further raised the heckles of the fans, who have vocally made their feelings known at games.
The Glazer era has seen an enormous increase in commercial revenues - they are projected to reach £600m in 2023 - with every single commercial avenue around the world explored.
United have multiple tiers of sponsors and are foremost in world football in exploiting their well-known brand all around the globe.
The Glazers want at least £6billion for the club - one hell of a profit on the £800m they paid - and there have been two confirmed offers for control.
One bid has come from Qatar, led by Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani, and wants full control, while the British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe has bid for a majority stake in the club.
However, suggestions the Glazers may have backtracked on their decision to sell up have muddied the waters somewhat.
Earlier in November, Liverpool's owners since 2010 Fenway Sports Group [FSG], also from the United States, announced they 'would consider new shareholders' and are 'exploring a sale.'
But after suggestions they were merely 'testing the waters', owner John W Henry said last month the club wasn't up for sale.
'Will we be in England forever? No. Are we selling LFC? No. Are talking with investors about LFC? Yes.
'Will something happen there? I believe so, but it won't be a sale. Have we sold anything in the past 20+ years?'
FSG bought Liverpool for £300m from Tom Hicks and George Gillett in 2010 and restored success to the club as well as investing in Anfield and the club's training facilities.
They would be looking for a sum approaching £3bn for the club but some reports suggested no offers were forthcoming.
Liverpool's debt situation is far less alarming than at United - the 2021-22 figures showed £146m in debt including what was owed on a loan from FSG.
However, the club also generated record-high revenues of £594m for the financial year.
Both sets of American owners were driving forces behind the botched attempt to set up a European Super League in 2021. They U-turned following a fierce backlash from fans, which actually caused a United vs Liverpool game at Old Trafford to be postponed.
STADIUM AND INFRASTRUCTURE
Old Trafford - United's home ground since 1910 - is the largest club ground in England with a capacity of 74,310.
While able to accommodate plenty of fans, Old Trafford is certainly showing its age in places and is in need of a facelift, comparing unfavourably to modern new Premier League grounds like Tottenham's £1billion home.
United have appointed master planners to look into the feasibility of upgrading the current stadiums, knocking it down and starting from scratch on the same site, or relocating.
Neither option is going to be cheap for a prospective new owner but the nettle will have to be grasped sooner rather than later if United are to continue capitalising on the lucrative corporate and hospitality income that helps sustain them.
The Qatari bid for the club has made clear money will be no object when it comes to rebuilding Old Trafford if they take over.
Anfield will soon have a capacity of 61,000 thanks to investment from FSG in recent years.
An extension of the main stand, which opened in 2016, lifted the capacity to 53,394 and the Anfield Road Stand redevelopment will take that number higher still by the 2023-24 season.
FSG have certainly aimed to maximise matchday income to help Liverpool compete with the leading Premier League clubs but any prospective new owners may find further expansion tricky considering Anfield's location.
Another investment by FSG was in a state-of-the-art £50m training ground and academy at Kirkby, which opened in November 2020, after 60 years at their Melwood base.
While there has been some investment in United's equivalent at Carrington, it's certainly another area where they have been overtaken by their rivals.
At the cutting edge during Ferguson's days, it was certainly noticed by Cristiano Ronaldo when he returned after 12 years away that not much had changed in certain areas.
But United have drawn up plans for an upgrade, including a player hotel on site, and a new owner would be advised to see these through despite the millions required.
GLOBAL APPEAL
When the Glazers put United up for sale, they boasted United have some 1.1billion fans around the world.
It seems very outlandish given this would equate to one in every eight people globally, but the figure seems to be based on research by Kantar back in 2019 that questioned 54,000 people in 39 countries.
The massive caveat here is that United hired Kantar to do the research and it also included social media 'followers' as well as 'fans', which are definitely two different things.
Nonetheless, United probably are the best supported football club in the world and the commercial potential from that is obvious.
But it's become a source of mockery that United's hierarchy like to boast of new Far East noodle partners and world-beating Tiktok follower figures when the team is getting thrashed on the pitch.
As a name and a brand, however, they are hard to surpass in sport, let alone football.
Liverpool could also fill a stadium anywhere on the planet - a 2015 study found they had 580 million fans worldwide and social media follows easily exceed 100m.
