Manchester United vs Liverpool: 3 players who played for both clubs

On Sunday, Manchester United face Liverpool in what could be the biggest Premier League game in both clubs’ seasons. Liverpool is currently sitting in the driver's seat in the title race and will want to continue their momentum at Old Trafford.

The Red Devils, on the other hand, will want to do everything they can to thwart the Reds’ title challenge in a role reversal of the previous decade or so. These two clubs are the biggest ones in England, as well as in the world in terms of history.

They are bitter rivals and more often than not, these matches are real battles. Therefore, it is not surprising that hardly any players have shared tenures at both Liverpool and United. There are only a handful of players who have done that, a complete rarity and something that might never, ever happen again.

Here are three players who turned out for both Liverpool and Manchester United.

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#3 Michael Owen

Owen was a Liverpool hero.

Michael Owen is the only player on this list who played for Manchester United after playing for Liverpool. The difference in spells is, however, striking. Owen rose to fame at the end of the 90s, with a couple of prolific seasons at Anfield and a stunning World Cup in 1998.

Going into the millennium, he was the Reds’ clear talisman and led them to a cup treble in 2000-01. He even won the Ballon d'Or that year. The former Kop hero was pretty much the perfect striker, scoring 158 goals in 297 appearances for his boyhood club.

Owen left Anfield for Real Madrid in 2004, before moving back to England the following year, with Newcastle United. After many injury problems and even relegation from the Premier League, the striker seemingly cried out for a return to Liverpool.

However, no interest was shown and Man United stepped up and swooped in for Owen. He spent the entirety of his United career as a backup striker but managed to get a couple of vital goals for the Red Devils and even won the Premier League in 2010-11 with them.

#2 Peter Beardsley

Beardsley enjoyed considerable success at Liverpool.

Peter Beardsley was a solid attacker, one who had an incredibly long career. He played for a who's who of the regulars in the English first division and the Premier League, as well as a couple of international tournaments for England.

Beardsley joined Manchester United early on in his career, but could not make an impact as played just one game for them before moving to Newcastle United a year later in 1983, where he would become a star.

Following a successful spell at St James's Park, Beardsley joined Liverpool in 1987. He scored 61 goals in 175 games and won two league titles, over his four years at Anfield. After Liverpool, Beardsley would go on to play for the rivals of both aforementioned clubs, Everton and Manchester City.

He remains the only player in history to play for all four clubs. He also had a second run at Newcastle, before retiring in 1999. A long and storied career indeed.

#1 Paul Ince

Ince did reasonably well for both clubs.

The final name on this list, Paul Ince is probably the player with similar contributions to both Liverpool and Manchester United. Both Owen and Beardsley had shorter spells at United while showing some of their best work at Anfield.

The former England international was signed by the Red Devils in 1989 and developed nicely under Sir Alex Ferguson. Ince played as a box-to-box midfielder, showcasing his physicality on occasion.

However, Ince would lose his place in Man United's team following the remarkable emergence of the ‘Class of 92’ and the signing of Roy Keane. He left Old Trafford after picking up a couple of Premier League winners medals, moving to Serie A and Inter Milan.

Ince joined Liverpool from Inter in 1997 and played there for a couple of seasons. He even scored a late equalizer for them against United in front of the Kop.