Roy Keane returned but Ruud van Nistelrooy was out as Manchester United looked to record back-to-back Premiership doubles against north-west rivals Liverpool at Old Trafford.
Keane's presence in the United starting line-up for the first time since the FA Cup semi-final win over Arsenal three weeks ago will almost certainly be the signal for him to join up with the Republic of Ireland squad again in midweek, but the midfielder was just one of four changes from the Red Devils side that beat Charlton in midweek.
Ryan Giggs, Cristiano Ronaldo and John O'Shea were also included, with van Nistelrooy the most eye-catching absentee having suffered a slight thigh strain in training yesterday.
The visitors, desperately chasing the fourth Champions League qualifying slot, showed two changes from the side which drew with Fulham last weekend, with Steve Finnan and Danny Murphy returning for Bruno Cheyrou and Vladimir Smicer.
It was only the second time in the Premiership era that an Old Trafford clash between English football's traditional heavyweights has taken place at 3pm on a Saturday and there was tight security, including armed police squads outside the ground before kick-off following the terrorism fears expressed in the wake of the 10 arrests made earlier this week.
Man Utd: Howard, Gary Neville, Brown, Silvestre, O'Shea, Fletcher, Keane, Phil Neville, Ronaldo, Saha, Giggs. Subs: Carroll, Butt, Bellion, Djemba-Djemba, Solskjaer.
Liverpool: Dudek, Finnan, Henchoz, Hyypia, Carragher, Murphy, Gerrard, Hamann, Riise, Owen, Kewell. Subs: Baros, Heskey, Smicer, Cheyrou, Luzi Bernardi.
Referee: M Riley (W Yorkshire)