Super Sunday sizzler

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson is leading calls for mutual respect between supporters when his side goes to Liverpool

It is time to show respect. It is time for the majority of supporters to reclaim the airwaves from the nihilist minority. It is a time for two tribes to place ancient enmities to one side and not embarrass themselves, their distinguished clubs and their great sport.

Don't mock the memory of the dead.

Liverpool versus Manchester United is the classic fixture in the English calendar, a collision of the country's most successful clubs.

Each club has experienced tragedy. Each club mourns lost loved ones.

Today they gather at Anfield for Liverpool's first home game since the Hillsborough Independent Panel revealed the enormity of the falsehoods and felonies committed against their fans in that fateful FA Cup semifinal of 23 years ago.

Premier League points are at stake and the possibility of a turning point. Mutual loathing will doubtless continue between many of the fans, but it is time to stop songs of hate.

The clubs have done all they can. Nemanja Vidic and Steven Gerrard have spoken sensibly and sensitively, urging restraint. The captains will release 96 red balloons before kick-off. A mosaic will form around the ground, honouring the Liverpool fans who died. Luis Suarez and Patrice Evra will shake hands.

It could be an uplifting occasion, a reminder that fans can live in harmony.

So the message to those considering sullying the occasion is that if they possess a shred of humanity they will stay silent or simply pour their energies into backing their own team. They will spot the CCTV trained on them, the sound-boom quivering.

Kenny Dalglish, Liverpool's manager during Hillsborough and briefly since, will be present, making his first visit to Anfield in the Brendan Rodgers era. Dalglish wanted to show solidarity with the families of those who died at Hillsborough.

So Dalglish will look down from the smart seats to the dug-outs, to his old adversary Alex Ferguson, the man who put aside club rivalries to offer support to Liverpool 23 years ago. United's manager went to Anfield to pay his respects.

"They had that service didn't they?" Ferguson recalled yesterday, talking at Carrington. "The one at the ground. Quite a few football people were there."

Last week Ferguson listened to prime minister David Cameron's statement on Hillsborough to the House. United's manager read newspaper reports detailing the findings of the panel.

"It was horrific, absolutely horrific in this day and age," said Ferguson.

He understood the tribalism on the terraces but hoped that a degree of restraint would invade the fans' consciences when they open their song-books.

"There is a point where you go beyond the pale. And in the past it has been that way. You have to remember that it's not all the supporters - it's a minority. A minority can create the headlines in order to get a voice. They have an opinion and they want to be heard - an obscene opinion but nonetheless it is there.

"And it does not reflect the general view or attitude of both clubs. We're talking about 400 or 500 supporters on either side that bring their clubs into disrepute."