Football FanCast guest columnist Cliff Morgan wonders whether the desire to surpass Liverpool's 18 League titles is what is firing the belly within Sir Alex Ferguson.

Where does Sir Alex Ferguson rank among the greats of English football? Sir Matt Busby, Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley - all great managers, but surely being a part of the modern day era must set him apart, I mean football has evolved so much in the last 20yrs and become harder, more competitive and comes with greater pressures.

I had the great privilege of meeting Sir Alex in a London hotel just after Manchester United drew 1-1 in the charity shield against Arsenal at Wembley back in 1993. We were drinking in the hotel bar when we first greeted the man and on his return, after a meal out with his wife, he came over took our drink orders and we set upon a night of talking football.

It was around 4am and several glasses of Red before we all decided it was time to leave. It was an amazing experience, listening to the man talk about the game with so much enthusiasm and outright passion that he had you all believing that anything was possible. He is a totally different character to the one that Joe Public tries hard to decipher and a real warm and generous individual. I still find it hard to believe that some 15yrs later that the man is still at his brilliant best, displaying the same desires and passion for the game.

Sir Alex goes into tomorrow's game on the brink of his 10th Premier League title and one that will be thoroughly deserved. It will take Manchester United within two of Liverpool's 18 titles and I wonder whether the Scot is just waiting to eclipse them before he calls time on his illustrious career. It will be a sad day when he steps down and leaves behind a huge void and you feel it must be the most thankless of tasks.