Speaking to BBC Radio Manchester ahead of the clash Neville admitted he is disappointed to miss running out at his old stomping ground but insists it is Everton he wants to take the points.

He also revealed how he hated Manchester City growing up and ruled out ever joining the stuttering revolution over at Wastelands.

“Joining City is not something that will ever happen” he insisted. “When you have got red blood you cannot see yourself with blue blood. You go there and they have blue ketchup, it’s just like ‘What are they doing?’.

“I am not being disrespectful to City. I grew up a Red, hating Manchester City. When I go back with Everton I get absolutely slaughtered.

“It makes me laugh in a way because I understand what they are feeling. I think it is fantastic as it makes football special.”

Giggs, 34, is the most decorated player in the Premier League’s history and tops the club’s appearance charts having played in an amazing 816 (and counting) matches for the club in a career spanning nearly 20 years. Rooney, in his sixth season at United, has clocked up 252 appearances and found the net on 105 occasions.

At just 24 and with is game based on vision, strength and graft there is no reason Rooney can’t play on for another ten years and possibly even more. With that in mind, Rooney is setting his sights high and Giggs is his target.

“The way his life is, you have got to have great respect for the way he handles himself” Rooney said of Giggs.

“You look at the things he’s done and won – for me he’s the perfect role model and I hope I can reach 800 appearances for United.

“I have always said I would love to end my career here and if I could emulate what Giggsy has done at this club it would be an amazing achievement.”

It seems unlikely Rooney will break Giggs’ record, especially when you consider the Welshman is still putting in performances of the highest quality and so another season after the current one could well be on the cards. Giggs could realistically have notched up 850 appearances before he finally calls it a day and for Rooney to match that, he’d need to pull on the famous red shirt another 600 times; it’s an admirable target but one even Rooney will struggle to match.

A record that is not so far from reach is that of the club’s top goal scorer. Rooney is already sitting 18th in the club’s all time list with 105 goals; 144 goals short of Sir Bobby Charlton’s record of 249.

Rooney has a strike rate of one goal every 0.42 games in his time at United. If he can keep that up, he’ll pass Sir Bobby’s record in his 600th appearance for the club and if he makes it to 800? Well, he’ll not only top the charts, he’ll be head and shoulders above the rest leaving a legacy no Red will ever forget.

Valencia managed to hold on to their prized assets in the summer but as their financial troubles show no sign of letting up, it looks increasingly likely they will lose one if not both in the winter.

Ferguson chose not to reinvest the bulk of the £80 million received in the world record transfer of Cristiano Ronaldo over the summer; opting instead to give his existing squad an opportunity and keep well clear of the inflated transfer fees being bounded about.

But as United chase silverware on all fronts, it looks clear that we are short of one or two top players and Fergie may well be lining up a swoop for the highly rated Spanish stars.

David Villa is one of the world’s top rated strikers and is on many club’s shortlist. He finished top scorer at Euro 2008 and was the 3rd most prolific striker in La Liga last term. Despite previously stating his preference to stay in Spain, it is unknown whether Barcelona (who are reportedly after Robinho) or Real Madrid (who signed Benzema to partner Raul up front) would bid for the 27 year old meaning he may be more open to the idea of a move to England.

In bringing Villa to United, Ferguson would have some tough decisions to make up front. Would Michael Owen become surplus to requirements? Would Dimitar Berbatov become third choice striker? Villa certainly wouldn’t join to sit on the bench so a front pairing or Rooney and Villa seems most obvious and does make your moth water just thinking about it.

United do have a decent number of options up front but is it really enough? Dimitar Berbatov impresses on occasions but question marks still hang over the Bulgarian’s work rate. Even if you ignore his lethargic approach to the game, 3 goals (against Stoke, Wigan and Sunderland) in 14 appearances just isn’t enough.

Michael Owen has managed to match Berbatov’s tally of 3 having played less than half the football of the Bulgarian. Owen will get goals; we already know that but surely he’s not of the calibre required to lead the line on a regular basis?

The other David, David Silva, is reportedly keener on a move to England than his compatriot and appears to favour United over any other team in the country.

Silva, 23, can play on either wing or through the middle and has both vision and pace. He too was a member of the Spanish side which won Euro 08 and is also highly rated amongst those in the know of world football.

Antonia Valencia is arguably United’s best winger and as he grows in stature, we can expect to see him make the right wing his own. On the other flank though, all is not so clear cut. It was hoped Nani would step his game up this season but frustratingly, he seems unable to meet the standards set down to him. Park is injured but as with Owen, even fit, he simply doesn’t have the quality to be regarded as a first team regular.

United do have a number of young wingers bursting with potential but in a business when results are key, having a tried and tested member among the ranks would be ideal.

Reports suggest a bid of £50 would be enough to secure the services of Villa and Silva. Both have a lot to offer and would be excellent Manchester United signings. Up front, United perhaps have enough to cope. Danny Welbeck and Federico Macheda are both on the fringes of the first team and when you include them in the strike force, you cannot se any room for a world class striker. Not without sales anyway.

David Silva however is the more likely of the two. United may have wingers, but quality wingers are few and far between. Silva would sort that and who knows, perhaps the competition would raise Nani’s game to the level we have been hoping it would reach for a while. Fergie Fergie sign him up!

Fergie set his stall out with a simple 4-4-2 with Berbatov and an apparently fit enough Wayne Rooney leading the line. Giggs and Valencia were on either wing with Carrick and Scholes holding the middle. O’Shea continued at right back, with Evra on the left and the usual pairing of Vidic and Ferdinand making up a typical back four in front of Edwin van der Sar. It looked like we were there to attack.

But we didn’t. In fact, the lads didn’t do much of anything. The first half didn’t produce much either way and the ref was questionable to say the least in his decision making but as the teams left the field at half time, the atmosphere was hotting up and you expected something to happen after such a dull display.

Liverpool started the second half on the front foot and quickly the match began to play out just as the last one had ended. Nothing was changing. In seems unfair to single anyone out for criticism because everyone played so badly.

Carrick and Scholes were completely over run in the middle of the park and their passing was woeful. I don’t remember Carrick making a successful forward pass in the entire game and Scholes struggled to keep up with the pace at times.

John O’Shea was guilty of who knows how many dodgy passes, Vidic was sent off for the third time in as many games against the same opposition and Ferdinand was once again involved in poor defending which cost the team dear.

Up front, Rooney and Berbatov received little service and were both relatively quiet. Rooney was perhaps still feeling the effects of his recent injury but stayed on the pitch the full ninety minutes. I don’t know whether it’s his reputation going before him, but I was particularly disappointed with Berbatov. The Liverpool attackers were hardly ever standstill. In comparison, Berbatov seemed to be barely moving.

Liverpool took the lead when Yossi Benayoun sliced open the defence which was holding a very high line leaving Torres only Rio for company. As we saw in the City derby with Craig Bellamy, Rio just doesn’t have that turn of speed to keep up. After skipping away from Rio, Torres smashed the ball past helpless van der Sar.

Even at 1-0 there was little change in play and more concerning, no apparent changes from the bench either. Michael Owen was on the bench and was one man with a particular interest in doing well at his old stomping ground yet Fergie waited until the 74th minute before bringing him on for the anonymous Dimitar Berbatov.

The teams only other change also came with Owen as Nani took the field to replace Paul Scholes. Nani took over on the wing pushing Giggs inside, and created more opportunities in his fifteen minutes than Giggs had managed all game. Had the winger been given more time I wonder whether me may of taken one of those.

Owen almost had a chance but as he was through on goal, Jamie Carragher hauled him to the ground and escaped with a booking. Vidic got a red for something similar in a previous encounter but let’s not go into that.

Last man and already booked Vidic didn’t need much contact to bring down Dirk Kuyt which earned the Serbian his third red card in as many games against Liverpool and Mascherano, never one to beat, also got himself sent off deep into injury time for his second bookable offence as he arrived about 18 seconds late in a challenge on van der Sar.

With a central defender missing and the team desperate to score, it didn’t take long to get caught on the counter attack and when Torres’ replacement Ngog found himself one on one with the keeper, he clinically finished to round off a miserable day all round.

Goals breed confidence, and if Valencia is short of a little confidence, his latest performances in a United shirt will go some way to building it up.

Nemanja Vidic believes the daunting task of filling Cristiano Ronaldo’s boots has hindered Valencia’s progress but thinks the Ecuadorian has turned a corner and will be showcasing his talents more regularly in the future:

“At the beginning of the season, Antonio had some difficulties because he was bought to replace Cristiano Ronaldo” said Vidic.

“The media paid special attention and were watching his every move, and the pressure paralysed him a little. He is a real artist, gradually gaining confidence and playing better and better with each match. Scoring will help him even more.”

A sentiment echoed by Vidic’s defensive partner, Rio Ferdinand:

“I think everyone is very pleased with what Antonio has done,” said Rio.

“He’s a really humble and quiet lad. He comes in, does his work and goes home.

“He is from the Paul Scholes mould of embracing hype and attention but he’s the most confident guy on the football field and he’s been very impressive since he arrived.

“He is always available, always backing himself on the ball and doesn’t mind a bit of contact. He is a strong lad and that’s what you want.

“He’s playing very well and I’m sure he will keep improving and keep scoring goals.”

It isn’t just his teammates that are impressed with him. Alex Ferguson is also pleased with Valencia’s progress and hopes the winger will score plenty more before the season is out.

“Valencia has been a plus point for the last few weeks. He is emerging very well, settling into the club, and his confidence is getting stronger.

“He has tremendous assets for a wide player, but the assets he didn’t show at Wigan were his goals, where he would maybe only get three or four a season. This was his challenge when he signed for us. Two in two games will help him.”

Football fans who play the popular Football Manager game series were polled to see who they hold in highest regard with Fergie coming out on top; head and shoulders above anyone else. Ferguson received a whopping 26% of the vote, followed by the late Sir Bobby Robson (14%) and Bill Shankly (9%).

Jose Mourinho (4%) and Arsene Wenger (3%) were the only other currently serving managers to make the top ten coming in seventh and eighth respectively. Wenger’s inclusion in the top ten is questionable at best and Mourinho’s presence can only be described as ludicrous.

Still, you can’t argue with popular opinion and popular opinion says that Sir Alex is a legend.

Top Ten Football Managers Of All Time

1. Sir Alex Ferguson – 26%
2. Sir Bobby Robson – 14%
3. Bill Shankly – 9%
4. Brian Clough – 8%
5. Sir Matt Busby – 6%
6. Sir Alf Ramsey – 5%
7. Jose Mourinho – 4%
8. Arsene Wenger – 3%
9. Bob Paisley – 2%
10. Jock Stein – 1%

I’m not sure if Ferguson saw something I didn’t but over the course of the ninety minutes, it seems staggering that the young goalkeeper deserved such high praise. Akinfeev made a couple of good saves and showed fairly good composure during the match but in a game when shots on target were at a premium, the lad made as many blunders as he did top saves.

Early in the match, Akinfeev rushed out to collect a cross but even with a run and jump, the ball sailed way over his head. Luckily for him there was no United player there to capitalise. If there were, the goal was gaping and scoring would have been a dead cert.

He also seemed to struggle with a long shot from Paul Scholes despite being ideally positioned to gather the ball. Any suggestions of an awkward bounce due to the artificial playing surface must be dismissed out of hand due to the number of times he has played on the surface.

Publicly, Ferguson has backed both Ben Foster and Tomasz Kuszczak but everyone knows United are in need of another keeper. Foster and Kuszczak may well figure in Fergie’s plans, but only as understudies. When van der Sar retires, possibly at the end of this campaign, neither are ready to take on the responsibility and Ferguson knows he will need to strengthen.

Akinfeev is one of the best goalkeepers in European football at present and is tipped for a great future. He is ready to fast track his career and sees United as an ideal platform. By publicly praising the keeper, Ferguson has shown his hand. He’s ready to make a move. The only question is will it be in January or will he wait until the summer?