It does not get bigger than Liverpool v Manchester United. The two juggernauts of the English game have dominated for large swathes of the last half century, claiming more league titles than anyone else and winning more than their fair share of continental honours in the mean time.

The two clubs have such similar standings in the history of English football, and that naturally enables fans to have the bitterest of rivalries. Were the Liverpool side of the 1980s better than Manchester United’s 1999 team? Does the extra European success make Liverpool a more successful club? Was Sir Alex Ferguson a better manager than Bill Shankly? It is a fixture laced with history, one-upmanship and a desire to be the greatest in the land.

Only for short periods in the history of English football have both sides been competing at the top of the game; over the years it has predominantly been about phases of substantial success for one, while the other rebuilds. This fixture would be momentous even if they were at opposite ends of the nation, but the proximity and in-built rivalry between Manchester and Liverpool makes it one of the world’s greatest derbies.

For two clubs who have been so accustomed to success, they are both in what can be defined as slumps. Liverpool’s dearth of league titles – none since 1990 – far surpasses that of Manchester United, but the Red Devils are suffering something of an identity crisis since the retirement of Alex Ferguson. In Jurgen Klopp and Jose Mourinho, both clubs have turned to world class managers to take them back to the top of the English and European game, and two of the world’s greatest managers have enough experience to cope with the pressure of their expectant cities.

The last decade that saw both teams lift the league title was the 1960s. Since then there have been exchanges in periods of primacy. Liverpool lifted the top flight trophy 10 times during their highly decorated 1970s and 80s golden years – as well as four European Cups. Manchester United’s return to the summit of the game came under Ferguson, of course. After a period of rebuilding, the Scot led the Red Devils to 13 Premier League titles from 1992 through to 2013. In that period, Liverpool’s captain has never laid his hands on the Premier League trophy.

There has since been a lull in success for both teams, making it open for either side to claim the next ten years as their own. The first step in any attempt to return to previous glories must be a regular top four spot, but the title is well within reach for both clubs this year. Since 1972, there has never been a spell as long as this without Manchester United or Liverpool winning the English league title – it is a drought that is unprecedented in modern times.

But now that both teams are starting from the same position, this derby has significantly more riding on it. Klopp’s Liverpool have shown all the positive early season signs that Mourinho’s Manchester United have largely lacked, and the next decade could yet be theirs. Neither are in a position to be ‘knocked off a perch’, the clamour for Liverpool to lift the league title once again is only heightened by the opportunity to reclaim their place as the most successful team in English football, not to beat United. But doing that on Monday night could set them well on the way to doing that.