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• Uruguayan will lift Anfield club, says Kevin Bond
• Spurs can get a result, says assistant manager

Kevin Bond believes that Luis Suárez’s probable return for Liverpool against Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield on Monday night will make it harder for Harry Redknapp’s side. Spurs are third and know that beating Liverpool will keep their championship hopes alive.

Suárez has been serving an eight-match ban for racially abusing Manchester United’s Patrice Evra earlier in the season and Bond, the assistant manager, said of his likely return to action: “The introduction of Suárez on a night match at Anfield – they’re going to be a real tough nut. It will give them a lift – as if they need a lift. You can imagine it, the crowd will be rooting for him hugely. They are flying – so you never know, he might not get in the side.

“He’s a good player. He’s a fantastic player and has been a fantastic signing for Liverpool. You’d have expected them to really sorely miss him. Maybe a couple of results have gone against them in his absence but they’ve just had three big wins without him and now they’ve got him as well.”

Spurs beat Liverpool 2-0 in the corresponding fixture last season and Bond said the side can take heart for this: “It was a real big performance up there last year. I’m sure the lads will reflect on that and think if we go about our job we can go to Anfield and get a result. We definitely need to get something there. Last year’s win will give us a bit of a lift. Players have favourite grounds, strikers have certain teams they think they always do well against. We focus on that factor to help them.”

Regarding Tottenham’s title hopes Bond said: “When we were eight points adrift [before midweek games] that wasn’t bang in the title race but now it’s five and we’re nearer. A lot of things will change. Next week it might be two points or you might have a blip and you’re back to eight and effectively out of it. It’s an ever-changing situation and I see it like that for the rest of the season. We’re only a couple of results away from the teams above us, which is terrific.”

Manchester City, the leaders, dropped three points when Everton beat them 1-0 last Tuesday and Bond said: “If his opinion was it was a two-horse race, now his opinion is different. It’s exactly what I mean. One minute we’re 20-1 and the next we’re 10-1 on the back of one result.

“I don’t see City collapsing. It’s a disappointing result but it’s never easy playing away to Everton. They had a great result against us [3-2 at the Etihad last month]. Come the back end of the season experience will count for a lot, which means [Manchester] United have the edge on everybody. They’ve been in tight title races come March and April before. Most of the time they come out on top. They’ve been there and done it and that’s in their favour. United will relish that close finish. We’ve not been in this situation before and they seem to thrive on it.”

Regarding Emmanuel Adebayor, who has scored nine goals but none since 22

• Kenny Dalglish may not start striker against Spurs
• ‘It’s not automatic [he] will come straight into the team’

Kenny Dalglish says Luis Suárez is keen to play against Tottenham Hotspur on Monday night following his eight-match suspension for racially abusing Patrice Evra but the manager is not sure whether to throw him in at the deep end.

The Liverpool manager said of Suárez, who has not played since the 1-1 draw with Blackburn Rovers on Boxing Day: “He’ll want to play, won’t he? There is a lot to be taken into consideration – the way the other boys have played without him and the fact he has not played for a month.

“After five or six weeks out, it’s not automatic someone will come straight back into the team. It depends on the individual, it depends on our needs; not just who we have available but who we are playing against.”

Suárez has always been good at beginnings; almost exactly a year ago he scored at Anfield 16 minutes into his Liverpool debut. It was his first domestic club game since a seven-match suspension for biting PSV

• Manchester United manager leaves decision to full-back
• United and Liverpool meet for first time since FA ban

Sir Alex Ferguson will recommend Patrice Evra does not ignore Luis Suaárez in the pre-match handshake when they come face to face for the first time since the Football Association found the Liverpool striker guilty of racially abusing the Manchester United player and banned him for eight matches.

Ferguson intends to leave the decision to Evra when the two teams meet at Old Trafford next weekend but believes the Frenchman should not prolong the argument. “He should be applauded for what he did [reporting Suárez], standing up to it,” Ferguson said. “There is no shame for him. The matter is over. He can rise above that [ignoring the handshake].”

Evra was booed and subjected to chants branding him a liar when he played at Anfield last weekend and one supporter was arrested afterwards for allegedly making monkey gestures. “Patrice handled it OK,” Ferguson continued. “I don’t think he enjoyed it but he handled it OK. Patrice has already shown the courage to fight it, so he has nothing to be ashamed of. I don’t think it’s a problem shaking hands.”

John Terry’s absence with a knee injury means Ferguson will not have to speak to Rio Ferdinand to ascertain whether he is planning to shun the Chelsea captain in the pre-match handshakes at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. Ferdinand had told friends he did not want to accept Terry’s hand but Ferguson planned to advise him to go through with it. He said: “Rio has been fighting the racism issue for years. I’ve seen that in all the time I’ve known the lad. But there is a moment when he maybe has to rise above that.”

United’s injury concerns are easing, with Wayne Rooney, Ashley Young, Nani and Tom Cleverley all in the squad, while David de Gea should return in goal after missing the midweek win over Stoke City. Anders Lindegaard has an ankle injury that will rule him out for up to six weeks, meaning Ferguson will persist with a 21-year-old who has looked worryingly vulnerable at times this season. “The boy has got a great talent,” Ferguson said of De Gea. “He has made two or three mistakes but in two or three years we won’t be discussing that at all because he will have matured.

“At the moment he has found it difficult coming into the English game. It is highlighted when you make a mistake at United. It can be exaggerated. But there are mistakes and he wants to address it himself. He will do, through maturity and the understanding of the English game. It is hard when you are replacing someone like Edwin van der Sar and Peter Schmeichel because they are probably two of the greatest goalkeepers in European football over the last 40 years.”

Ferguson was less charitable when it came to Alan Hansen’s recent criticisms of United on Match of the Day, once again turning on the former Liverpool player. “He has tried to change it by saying he was talking about our away form but I have read his transcript and he said we were woeful for the last year and a half. He didn’t mention away games. So he’s dug himself into a grave really.

“He’s in a responsible position and it’s obvious to me he has said it the week before we played Liverpool. I can understand it because he’s a former Liverpool player and Kenny [Dalglish] is his pal, so he’s maybe tried to jack it up a little bit but he should be more responsible.

“When you think about it, we’ve played in a European Cup final, the semi-final of the FA Cup and won the league by nine points, so we couldn’t have been that woeful. Jesus Christ! Maybe he’s not got very good grammar.”

Manchester UnitedLuis SuárezLiverpoolAlex FergusonDaniel Taylor
guardian.co.uk