Both Ruud and Michael were match winners in Europe this week and it would take a brave man to bet against either of them scoring at Anfield. It could be a goalfest for TheFA.com's match-up of the weekend...

MICHAEL OWEN (Striker, Liverpool) v RUUD VAN NISTELROOY (Striker, Manchester United)

KNOWN FOR...
Owen: Stand-in England skipper, baby on the way, 11 goals in 19 starts this season
Van Nistelrooy: Premiership's most-expensive striker, horrendous knee injury, 16 goals in 18 starts this season

HIGH
Owen: Premiership's youngest goalscorer at 17 - until Wayne Rooney pipped him this season
Van Nistelrooy: 33 goals in debut season at Old Trafford

LOW
Owen: Then-England coach Glenn Hoddle said he wasn't "a natural goalscorer"
Van Nistelrooy: Press conference to welcome him at Man Utd cancelled fails because of medical

CURRENT FORM
Owen: Will always be compared to his first season when he was the Premiership's top scorer and then scored an all-time great goal against Argentina. Scored hat-tricks this season against Manchester City and Spartak and netted the winner in the UEFA Cup at Vitesse Arnhem on Thursday. His work-rate and movement are better than ever, even if his goalscoring isn't quite as prolific as Henry or Van Nistelrooy
Van Nistelrooy: You can't argue with seven goals in his last four games. Van the Man has sparked United's recent mini-revival and Tuesday's Champions League double in Basle was the mark of a striker bang in form. The dribble and shot which brought him his second goal showed he is far more than a target man who is good in the air.

WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT THEMSELVES
Owen: "As a kid at the World Cup, I didn't think about 30 million people at home watching. To me, it was just a kickabout, just a game"
Van Nistelrooy: "Manchester United waited an extra year for me. It is a great feeling to know that and why there is no other club for me."

HISTORY
Owen: The boy-next-door who has become an internationally recognised superstar. Just 18 when he burst onto the scene with that goal against Argentina in France 98 and has been a prolific goalscorer for England ever since, upto that match-winning double in Slovakia earlier this season. At club level, Owen helped Liverpool win the cup treble in 2001. And his hat-trick for England in Germany helped him win the prestigious European Player of the Year, the first Englishman to win it since Kevin Keegan in 1979. Despite frustrating hamstring injuries, Owen is on course to be the record goalscorer in Liverpool and England history. And he announced a fortnight ago that he is due to be a father for the first time. 

Van Nistelrooy: It took years for Ruud to become an overnight success. Overlooked by the big Dutch clubs, he started out with Den Bosch and Heerenveen before PSV Eindhoven were alerted, and he announced his arrival with 31 goals in 34 games for the club in 1998/99. Good in the air, skilful on the ground, a target-man who could also sniff out his quota of goals from close range, Sir Alex Ferguson decided the new Van Basten he was the man to take Manchester Untied into the 21st Century. Unfortunately, the first attempt to sign him floundered when the striker suffered a serious cruciate ligament injury. Fergie flew to Holland to see the stricken striker, and United's patience was rewarded when van Nistelrooy joined for a then-British record £19million in 2001. His first season resulted in 33 goals but no trophies, however 16 goals in 18 games means United are still bubbling on four fronts this season.


COMPARISON
"He is talented, gifted and certainly a player I would have been delighted to play alongside," Sir Bobby Charlton on Michael Owen.
"He is excellent at going for goal and is speedy and dangerous." Former Dutch coach Rinus Michels on Ruud van Nistelrooy

Compiled by Joe Bernstein

  • Liverpool play Manchester United in the Premiership at Anfield on Sunday December 1