( CNN ) -- A familiar refrain for many football fans is that it 's `` the hope that kills you . '' Over the last two decades for one of the world 's most famous sports teams Liverpool , there 's been a lot of hope extinguished as a 121-year-old football institution has failed to recapture its former dominance of English football . Between 1973 and 1990 , the English championship was placed in the trophy cabinet at the club 's Anfield stadium on 11 occasions . That domestic success was accompanied by continental glory as the European Cup was taken to Merseyside four times between 1977 and 1984 . But then came the famine . After sealing a then record 18th English title in 1990 , Liverpool has only sporadically shown signs of mounting a genuine Premier League challenge -- until this season as the club makes an unlikely bid to win the league . Like Liverpool fans , one of their outstanding performers this season Daniel Sturridge is dreaming big . `` I think it 's important that we just go out there , work as hard as we can as a team in every game and perceive what the future holds , '' Sturridge told CNN ahead of a key league match against Manchester United . `` We hope to have some success , we hope to be successful . There are 10 games to go so we 'll see where that takes us . '' During that title famine , Liverpudlians had to watch on as great rival United established itself as the preeminent force in English football . In April last year , United beat Aston Villa 3-0 to clinch a 20th league title , meaning it stands alone as the most successful team in English soccer history . The two teams meet on Sunday in a match which is about more than sporting pride . It 's a simmering century-old rivalry , shaped by resentment between the two cities -- separated by roughly 30 miles -- that has its roots in industrial history . But for the first time in two decades , the balance has shifted in the battle for power between these two storied clubs . United is floundering in seventh place in the table following a disastrous campaign which has so far seen manager David Moyes struggle to emulate his illustrious predecessor Alex Ferguson . While United are struggling to even qualify for Europe 's premier tournament -- the Champions League -- Liverpool is riding high . An exciting , vibrant team built by Northern Irish coach Brendan Rodgers sits second in the Premier League table , seven points behind leaders Chelsea but with a game in hand . The driving force behind Liverpool 's rise have been goalscorers Luis Suarez and Sturridge , who have put the team in with a serious chance of ending a 24-year wait for a 19th league title . Uruguay 's Suarez and England international Sturridge , dubbed the `` SAS '' by the British media , have scored 24 and 18 Premier League goals respectively , rocketing Liverpool towards the top of the table . `` SAS dynamic and dominant , but everyone contributing and effective , '' tweeted Liverpool 's American owner John W Henry , who also owns the Boston Red Sox , after the recent 4-0 drubbing of Merseyside rivals Everton . So with 10 games to go of the 2013-14 season , Liverpool fans are daring to hope . The turnaround in the team 's fortunes has been startling . It finished the 2012-13 campaign in seventh position , 28 points behind table-toppers United , 12 points adrift of fourth-place Arsenal and qualification for the lucrative Champions League . Last season Liverpool finished with 61 points , but it has 59 points so far in the 2013-14 campaign with 30 points still to play for . Rodgers ' team has already won more matches than it did in the whole of last season -- 18 compared to 16 -- and it 's the most in-form team in the Premier League with five wins from its last six games . The team 's recent positive results have been a source of encouragement for former Liverpool stalwart Jamie Carragher , who made over 500 appearances for The Reds before calling time on his career at the end of the 2012-13 season . The former defender is even starting to believe that Rodgers ' emerging squad is capable of taking the title ahead of mega-rich powerhouses Chelsea and Manchester City . `` The way Brendan has put the team together and the way they 're playing at the moment , they 're the most in-form team and the best time to be in-form is towards the end of the season , '' Carragher told CNN . `` They 've put themselves in with a great chance . You 'd still have to fancy Chelsea and Manchester City slightly ahead of them , but both those teams have to play at Anfield . I think it will depend on how they do in those games . '' Steve McManaman , who is a former Liverpool teammate of Carragher , has also been impressed by Rodgers ' flourishing team . `` Can they win the league ? Of course they can , but I still think they 're two , three , four players short of having a squad to rival Manchester City and Chelsea , '' said McManaman , who enjoyed two Champions League triumphs with Real Madrid after joining the Spanish club from Liverpool . `` I would always plump for those teams before Liverpool . A great year for Liverpool would be to just get into the Champions League , '' added McManaman . `` The step from finishing seventh last year and so many points behind to winning the league is huge . If they do it , I think it would be a monumental feat , but I think Champions League football would be incredible this year . '' Like Carragher , Sturridge predicts two potentially season-defining matches against Chelsea and Manchester City . `` I think they 're both favorites and they 're both a threat , '' said the 24-year-old of Liverpool 's title rivals . `` We 're going play them both at Anfield . It 's going to be a great occasion for myself and for the fans and my teammates of course . `` But it 's important that we go out there and play the Liverpool way and enjoy it . '' If Sturridge and Suarez can fire in those two games , Liverpool could well end 24 years of hurt and give its fans renewed hope that the club can return to its former glories .
Liverpool plays Manchester United in the English Premier League on Sunday . Liverpool is bidding to win the English championship for the first time since 1990 . Man Utd is the most successful club in English history , with 20 championships . But United has struggled under new manager David Moyes .