All the hype surrounding the game had been about the return of Suarez following his lengthy ban after an FA board found him guilty of making a racist comment towards Evra.

In the end, Suarez's return was third billing on a night that saw Redknapp forced to abandon his flight to Anfield due to technical problems having earlier appeared at Southwark Crown Court in the closing stage of his trial on tax evasion charges.

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Redknapp might have failed to make it but England manager Fabio Capello, fresh from publicly criticising the Football Association's decision to oust John Terry as captain, did make it to Anfield.

With Terry having been stripped of the armband pending his trial in July over alleged racial abuse of Queens Park Rangers's Anton Ferndinand, Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard has been tipped to lead England at Euro 2012.

Tottenham's Scott Parker has also been mentioned as a potential candidate. But in a game briefly stopped when a cat ran across the pitch, the fur was really flying after Parker's wild 39th minute challenge floored Gerrard just outside the visitors' penalty area.