Liverpool will host Manchester United at Anfield on Sunday with both clubs set to pay their respects to the 96 people who died in the Hillsborough disaster.

The revelations set out in the Hillsborough Independent Panel’s Report two weeks ago sent shockwaves that resonated far beyond the footballing world, and Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard and his United counterpart, Nemanja Vidic, will release 96 balloons into the air to commemorate those who lost their lives on April 15 1989.

Several individuals from both sides have called for a respectful atmosphere at Anfield, with vile chants about the Hillsborough and Munich disasters often overshadowing the sporting reasons for the clubs to be great rivals.

The pre-match handshakes will be keenly watched by all, with an opportunity given to bookend the controversy surrounding Patrice Evra and Luis Suarez, who was charged with racially abusing the Frenchman following the corresponding fixture last season.

The striker then snubbed Evra in the pre-match pleasantries at Old Trafford later in the season, but has a chance to put things right on Sunday.

Elsewhere, another huge clash in the North West sees Arsenal travel to the Etihad to face champions Manchester City.

The Gunners have made a fine start to life without Robin van Persie, remaining unbeaten and only conceding once in the league so far, with a 6-1 drubbing of Southampton last time out proving they have not lost their attacking potency.

Roberto Mancini’s side have stuttered so far, but their home dominance remains unwavering, having won both ties at the Etihad this season. The Blues have not lost on their own patch for 31 games, having won 29 of those encounters.

Chris Hughton takes his Norwich side to Sports Direct Arena, his first return to Newcastle United since being sacked as manager in 2010.

The man who replaced him, Alan Pardew, has enjoyed incredible success in the intervening period and will be looking for a second home win of the season, while the Canaries still search for their first victory of the campaign.

Finally, a London derby rounds of a scintillating set of fixtures, with QPR travelling to White Hart Lane to take on Tottenham.

Spurs have drawn all three of their home games under Andre Villas-Boas but will go in as heavy favourites, with the Hoops having taken a single point from all away games since Mark Hughes took over as manager in January.

Sunday kicks off with arguably the biggest rivalry in English football as Liverpool take on Manchester United.

Brendan Rodgers’ side have made a worrying start domestically and are without a win in four games. A number of individual errors have cost Liverpool at the back and with a total of eight goals conceded the Reds are yet to pick up a clean sheet.

Many will feel the home side will need to score at least once if they are to get anything out of Sunday’s game and with Fabio Borini unproven in the Premier League, controversial striker Luis Suarez will again be expected to be the main source of goals.

Manchester United responded to their opening day defeat at Everton by winning the next three games; scoring 10 goals, despite not hitting top gear. Robin van Persie could again be the man to watch and the Dutch forward scored twice at Anfield back in March to give former club Arsenal a 2-1 victory.

On a pure footballing level, Manchester United remain good value to pick up a result on Sunday, taking into account the form and mixed fortunes of the two sides.

Inter put their 3-1 defeat against Roma firmly behind them with a comfortable victory away at Torino last weekend. Goals from Antonio Cassano and Diego Milito gave Andrea Stramaccioni’s side a 2-0 win to maintain the pressure on unbeaten champions Juventus.

The performance of centre-back pairing Juan Jesus and Andrea Rannochia caught the eye of former defender Marco Materazzi, with the Nerazzurri picking up their second clean sheet of the season.

Opponents Siena rescued a point against Udinese after falling two goals behind at the Stadio Artemio Franchi. The visitors are yet to pick up a win this season and the loss of last season’s top goalscorer Mattia Destro will weaken the Robur, despite the arrivals of Alessandro Rosina and Ze Eduardo.

Inter played in the Europa League on Thursday, a competition that Stramaccioni said he would take seriously, but a draw against Rubin Kazan at San Siro could mean that the the Nerazzurri are more determined to win against Siena on Sunday.

Sebastian Grax’s late equaliser last weekend highlighted Lille’s shortcomings at the back as bottom side Troyes secured an unlikely draw at the Stade de l’Aube.

Lille are yet to keep a clean sheet in any of their five Ligue 1 fixtures this season and the visit of joint-top scorers Lyon will likely see that record extended.

Les Gones have scored in every game this season and you have to go back to the middle of April before you find Lyon failing to find the net. Goals from strikers Bafetimbi Gomis, Lisandro Lopez and Michel Bastos have been welcome for Remi Garde, who has led Lyon to an unbeaten start in the league.

Lille have made an unconvincing start to their season and have missed the craft, goals and guile of Eden Hazard, but all five of les Dogues games have finished with both sides scoring and Sunday’s rival clash has all the makings of a classic.

Jonathan Day is a football betting expert and a regular contributor to Goal.com. For more from Jonathan you can visit his website Sportingly Better or you can follow Sportingly Better on Twitter for in-play betting tweets.

Kenny Dalglish has revealed that following the Hillsborough disaster his fierce rival Sir Alex Ferguson was among the first people to offer support to the Premier League club.

And the former Anfield favourite admits that there is no love lost between the sets of supporters in a week where his fellow Scot has written a letter to the United fans to discourage them from singing abusive songs.

“When the Hillsborough disaster happened back in 1989, Sir Alex Ferguson was straight on the phone to offer his help in any way he could,” Dalglish told the Daily Mirror.

“People out there have different opinions about him. Some love him, some hate him, but when something terrible happens, like Hillsborough, Alex is one of the first asking what he can do.

“So although there is an intense rivalry between Manchester United and Liverpool, it would never prevent Alex from offering his assistance, which is exactly what he did back then.”

The 61-year-old acknowledges that the Red Devils have also been on the receiving end of abuse in the past from rival supporters over the Munich disaster that cost the lives of many United players in 1958, and has called for an end to the “scandalous” chants.

“These chants, on both sides, are absolutely scandalous,” said Dalglish.

“Unless they’ve actually been through something like that, they can have no comprehension of how difficult it is for the people involved and the families affected by these kind of tragedies.

“Although there is no love lost between United and Liverpool, there is an underlying respect for each other, even though at times it might be through gritted teeth.

“That’s why I don’t think there will be a problem at Anfield tomorrow.”

Dalglish also believes that Luis Suarez and Patrice Evra will put their differences to one side and shake hands before kick-off.

“Tomorrow, the stakes are too high to allow personal issues to cloud their judgement,” he added.

“If you can’t shake hands with an opponent and show respect to 96 innocent football fans who died, then you’ve got a major problem with yourself.”