After hearing the rumours that Liverpool chief Rafa Benitez was looking to bring injury-plagued striker Ruud van Nistelrooy from Real Madrid in January to bolster his striking options popped the question: "Are Liverpool playing tit for tat with United?".The former United hitman has been in exile from the Galacticos starting eleven with the trio signings of Ruud's former team-mate,Cristiano Ronaldo,Brazilian maestro,Kaka,and born-and-raised French striker,Karim Benzema,who joined the Spaniards from Lyon for a huge £30million and left Stade Gerland for Santiago Bernabeu.With such talents at the disposal of Chilean boss Manuel Pellegrini,a loan spell at Anfield for the 33-year-old looks like a reasonable target.

Despite this,it would have to come at the cost of Manchester United's encounter with Liverpool at home next year sparking the rivalry even further,as both clubs see their former goalscoring heroes in their rivals colours.Owen,who enjoyed most of his career at the Kop,signed for United in the early stages of July after his contract ran out with his now-former club and Championship outfit,Newcastle United.Before the Red Devils were even associated with bringing the ex-Real Madrid striker,Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard urged Rafa to sign Owen at the end of his contract.With that ignored by Benitez,it came at a grave consequence for Liverpool,as their lack of strikers came back to bite them with Fernando Torres now struggling to overcome his groin injury that he picked up last month.If Ruud is brough to Liverpool,not on a permanent deal,but as a small loan spell,it could turn their fortunes around and give them a glimmer of hope towards the end of the season as they still fight off 'Moneybags' Manchester City and Londoners Tottenham Hotspur for their debuts in the coveted UEFA Champions League competition,something that has been dominated by four of the biggest clubs in the country for the past five years,hencing their nickname as 'The Big Four'

With all the good news aside,should the Reds consider bringing an ex-Red Devil to the club,they must be weary of van Nistelrooy's tendancy to become injured quite frequently,which was already exposed at his time with 'Los Merengues' where he had been bombarded with leg injuries that kept him out of the first team for a lot of the season and giving way to the likes of Argentine Gonzalo Higuain and his international team-mate,Klaas-Jan Huntelaar,who signed for Madrid from Dutch big boys Ajax for £20million,only to find himself shipped out the following season to decorated Italian side,A.C. Milan.

Whatever the decision,it will have it's pros and cons.When Manchester United and Liverpool clash again,this team in Manchester,it will still be an enthralling encounter nonetheless,with or without Ruud wearing the colours of Liverpool,much to the dismay of what will be a lot of United fans while Rafa still tries to save his skin and avoiding the axe by American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett.