Wayne Rooney

Louis van Gaal hopes Wayne Rooney will finally end his Anfield hoodoo this afternoon.

Rooney has almost every medal in England locked up in a huge trophy room in his Cheshire mansion, but success at Anfield has been hard to find for the Manchester United captain.

In the 10 games he has played at Liverpool’s home, the former Everton striker has found the net just once – and that was on his first appearance there for his current employers a decade ago.

Van Gaal is sure it is not a serious problem and he hopes this weekend will be the time when Rooney’s goal drought at Anfield ends.

“I don’t think that Wayne has a (mental) block,” the manager said.

“He’s a very experienced player, he has played on all the grounds in the world so I don’t think that he shall be influenced by the fans at the stadium or something like that. It’s strange but it can be like this – and I hope I can change it with Wayne.”

It will come as anything but a surprise to hear about the poor disciplinary record in this fixture.

The meeting between two of the biggest clubs in England is statistically the second most volatile fixture in the calendar after the Merseyside derby.

Since the Premier League began, 15 red cards have been dished out in Liverpool-Manchester United matches, with the latest one coming last season when Nemanja Vidic was sent off at Old Trafford. Remarkably, it was his fourth dismissal in eight years against Liverpool.

Chris Smalling and Angel di Maria have been sent off in high-profile matches against Manchester City and Arsenal this year.

And Van Gaal has been playing the role of a stern referee in training in order to test the players’ temperament as he knows defeat would cost his team a place in the top four.

“I have mentioned that,” said the United manager when asked how important it was to keep 11 players on the pitch.

“Also I am the referee in the games that we have had in the training pitch and I have whistled at the way that they have to control their aggression, for example – to prepare already the atmosphere.

“And I have mentioned that to them this week... control of emotion is also a talent.”