(CNN) -- Luis Suarez may have been the villain of Liverpool's 2011-12 season, but the Uruguay striker is doing his best to make amends in another difficult start to this English Premier League campaign.
The fallout from Suarez's eight-match suspension for racially abusing Manchester United's Patrice Evra ultimately led to Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish losing his job as manager in May.
His successor Brendan Rogers is under increasing pressure after the club's worst start to a season in more than a century, but Suarez's inspirational performance in Sunday's 1-1 draw with 10-man Newcastle helped prevent a fourth defeat in 10 EPL games.
His second-half equalizer -- a superb display of control for his 10th goal this season after chesting down a long pass and rounding the keeper -- lifted the 18-time English champions up to 12th in the table.
The confrontational Suarez is never far from the headlines, having been accused by several opposition managers of diving and going to ground too easily.
It is now nearly a year since Chelsea lost to QPR 1-0 in an English Premier League game at Loftus Road. During the game it was alleged QPR defender Anton Ferdinand swore at John Terry and made reference to the Chelsea captain's reported affair with the ex-partner of former team-mate Wayne Bridge. Terry is then said to have described Ferdinand as a "f***ing black c***".
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It has been suggested the rivalry between the cities of Manchester and Liverpool can be traced back to the construction of the Manchester Ship Canal. Tired of paying their dues to import through the Mersey estuary, Manchester merchants built their own waterway, leaving Liverpudlian dock workers disgruntled and out of pocket.
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Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish paid the price for a disappointing season on Wednesday when he was sacked by the club's Fenway Sports Group owners. The Scot is a legend at Anfield for his actions both on and off the playing field.
Dalglish and Liverpool: The legacy of a legend
Such was his combative presence on Sunday that he lured visiting defender Fabricio Coloccini -- a fellow South American from neighboring Argentina -- into a rash challenge that earned a red card.
While Liverpool couldn't capitalize on that advantage, Rodgers was grateful for another virtuoso show from Suarez -- who also scored in last weekend's Merseyside derby draw with Everton, when he had a late winner wrongly ruled out for offside.
"I thought he was unplayable. Coloccini getting sent off was frustration," said Rodgers, whose team trailed to Yohan Cabaye's strike just before halftime.
"I don't think he could get near him today, and he's a good defender, Coloccini.
"Suarez is so bright, so clever, he's a world-class striker. On that form today he really frustrates and provokes defenders. He has a hunger for the game, he has a hunger for goals."
It was, however, Liverpool's fifth draw this season and followed a humiliating 3-1 midweek League Cup defeat at home to Rodgers' former club Swansea -- when Suarez also scored.
"Once we can turn those draws into wins by converting the chances ... but that's about players, the type of players you need. If we can get that over the next couple of (transfer) windows it bodes really well for us," said Rodgers, who was criticized for his lack of top signings in August while allowing England striker Andy Carroll to leave for West Ham.
The result left Newcastle in 10th place, and came at a cost of injuries to midfielder Cabaye, defender James Perch and top scorer Demba Ba.
Meanwhile, Queens Park Rangers moved off the bottom after a 1-1 draw at home to Reading in Sunday's other EPL game.
French striker Djibril Cisse scored a second-half equalizer that will lift some of the pressure on his manager Mark Hughes, though both teams remained in the bottom three.
In Italy's Serie A, Napoli failed to capitalize on Juventus' first defeat in 50 matches, being held 1-1 at home by Torino on Sunday despite a sixth-minute goal from Uruguay striker Edinson Cavani.
Substitute Gianluca Sansone leveled in time added on to leave Napoli -- beaten by Atalanta in midweek -- in third place, five points behind leaders Juve.
Fiorentina moved up to fourth after a 4-1 win at home to Cagliari, while Lazio went in the other direction after a 4-0 defeat by seventh-placed Catania.
In Germany, Bayer Leverkusen moved up to fourth place after beating Fortuna Dusseldorf 3-2 despite having midfielder Simon Rolfes sent off just over a minute after he came on.
Leverkusen went 3-1 ahead straight after the substitute's 65th-minute dismissal and held on against a team that is battling to avoid an immediate return to the second division.
Werder Bremen beat Mainz 2-1 in Sunday's other Bundesliga fixture, with two goals from Aaron Hunt lifting his team to seventh place and above the visitors on goal difference.
In Spain's La Liga, Levante moved up to fifth after a 0-0 draw with seventh-placed Sevilla on Sunday.
Real Betis can reclaim that position with a draw at Getafe on Monday.
Valladolid claimed eighth spot with a 1-0 win at bottom club Osasuna while Espanyol won 1-0 in a clash with fellow strugglers Real Sociedad.
Deportivo la Coruna joined Sociedad and Celta Vigo on 10 points from 10 games after beating Mallorca 1-0, while Athletic Bilbao moved above that group to 14th with a 2-1 win at Grenada thanks to two goals from Aritz Aduriz.
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In July, Terry was cleared in a London court, where the criminal burden of proof is "beyond all reasonable doubt". But the English Football Association then investigated the case, and using the test of "on the balance of probabilities", came to the conclusion that Terry's defence against claims he racially abused Ferdinand was "improbable, implausible, contrived".
Back in September, Ferdinand had declined Terry's offer of a handshake when QPR met Chelsea at Loftus Road as the feud between the two players rumbled on.
After the FA delivered the independent commission's report on the Terry case, the Chelsea captain's teammate Ashley Cole tweeted: "Hahahahaa, well done #fa I lied did I, #BUNCHOFT***S". The Chelsea and England left-back quickly issued a "unreserved apology" for his tweet through his solicitor.
In 2011 the FA had to deal with another racism case, this time handing Liverpool striker Luis Suarez an eight-match ban and a $63,000 fine after finding the Uruguayan guilty of racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra.
Suarez and Evra failed to shake hands before the start of an English Premier League game at Old Trafford last season after the Uruguayan had served his ban. However, when United beat Liverpool 2-1 at Anfield in September, the pair did shake hands.
Questions have been raised about UEFA's sanctioning policy. Denmark striker Nicklas Bendtner was fined $126,000 and banned from playing in his side's next competitive game for flashing his sponsored waistband promoting a bookmaker as he celebrated a goal against Portugal in Euro 2012. But that fine eclipsed the $52,000 fine that UEFA handed to the Bulgarian Football Union for its fans' racist abuse of England players during a Euro 2012 qualifier in Sofia in September 2011.
In November 2011, FIFA president Sepp Blatter told CNN that football did not have a problem with racism on the field and any incidents should be settled by a handshake.
The FA's Independent Regulatory Commission heard 473 cases between December 2010 and December 2011, but only two of them ended in "not guilty" verdicts.
Stoke City boss Tony Pulis wants the Football Association to punish Liverpool's Luis Suarez for diving. "It's an embarrassment," said the Stoke manager after a 0-0 draw at Anfield. "The FA should be looking at this."
Each season anti-discrimination organisation Kick it Out holds a week of action to promote awareness about its anti-racism work. But Reading's Grenadian striker Jason Roberts, who has played in England for the last 15 years, has said he will not wear the Kick It Out T-shirt in protest at what he perceives to be the campaign group's lack of action in combating racism in football.
Earlier this week, Danny Rose, a midfielder on loan at English Premier League side Sunderland from Tottenham Hotspur, claims he was subjected to monkey chants before, during and after England's Under-21 match in Serbia, while also alleging he had stones thrown at him by the crowd during the game.
Lazio was hit with a $52,000 fine by UEFA following racist chanting by its supporters during the Europa League fixture with Tottenham last month. But leading figures within the games say it is time for clubs and countries to be banned from playing matches if they are found guilty of racist abuse.
On Thursday, Chelsea captain John Terry opted not to appeal the English Football Association's verdict that he racially abused Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand.
Both United and Liverpool are have had to endure their fair share of tragedies. United lost an entire generation of young, promising stars in 1958, when a plane carrying the team back from a European Cup match in Belgrade crashed on a snowy runway in Munich -- killing eight players.
The shadow of the 1989 Hillsborough Stadium disaster has loomed large over Liverpool for over two decades. A total of 96 Liverpool fans lost their lives in a fatal crush before and during an FA Cup semifinal against Nottingham Forest. An independent report recently released absolved Liverpool fans of any blame for the tragedy, instead pointing the finger of blame at the authorities.
United and Liverpool have both enjoyed success in the European Cup, now known as the Champions League. In the 1999 final, United stunned the footballing world by scoring twice in injury time to beat Bayern Munich 2-1 and complete an historic league, FA Cup and Champions League treble.
Liverpool pulled off a shock of their own in 2005. At half-time against Italian giants AC Milan in Istanbul, Rafael Benitez's Liverpool found themselves 3-0 down. During an incredible second half, Liverpool scored three times before sealing a fifth European triumph when goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek saved Andriy Shevchenko's penalty in a shootout.
The rivalry between Manchester and Liverpool also spills over into areas of popular culture. Indie band Oasis are arguably Manchester's most famous musical export. Brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher are, however, Manchester City fans.
To this day, the music of the Beatles helps to put the city of Livepool on the map. "The Fab Four" of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison were global megastars between 1960 and 1970.
By winning the Premier League title at the end of the 2010-11 season, Manchester United became English champions for a record 19th time -- overhauling Liverpool's total of 18.
As a player, Dalglish helped Liverpool clinch European Cup glory on three occasions. The last was in 1984, when Liverpool defeated Roma on penalties in the Italian capital.
Dalglish's first spell as Liverpool manager was between 1985 and 1991, including a period as player manager. He guided the team to three First Division titles and two FA Cup triumphs, including a league and cup double in 1986.
After Roy Hodgson was sacked as Liverpool manager in January 2011, the club's supporters were granted their wish as Dalglish returned to the Anfield dugout.
Dalglish spent heavily on his return to management, splashing out on players such as Luis Suarez (R), Stewart Downing and Jordan Henderson. His most eye-catching piece of business was the signing of striker Andy Carroll (L) from Newcastle United for a British record transfer fee.
Suarez was central to one of the lowest points of Dalglish's return. The Uruguay striker was banned for eight matches after being found guilty of racially abusing Manchester United's Patrice Evra in October 2011. Liverpool and Dalglish were criticized for their public backing of Suarez.
Against the back drop of a disappointing league campaign, Dalglish guided Liverpool to their first trophy in six years by beating second-tier Cardiff City on penalties in the League Cup final.
Liverpool also reached the final of the FA Cup, but they were defeated 2-1 by European Champions League finalists Chelsea. Dalglish's final game in charge was a 1-0 defeat to Swansea, which condemned Liverpool to their worst ever Premier League season.
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