Best way, if saving money isn't the object, is to contact the clubs' commercial department and get a hospitality package. Price varies, but for a few hundred pounds a head, you get a meal, reserved seat, pay (or free) bar, match programme, parking permit and the service of a match host - often a former player.
At ManU, league games are a sell-out, tickets only going to established fans. If they have European ties or Capital One Cup games, tickets are often available from their website. At Anfield, sometimes league games against leser opposition are put on general sale. Just watch their website for news. No information will be available until the new fixures are published in the middle of June, and for some time after. By July you should be able to find out more.
A few tickets are sometimes put on sale on ticketmaster.co.uk. I don't recommend any unofficial agents or ticket sites as they aren't recognised by the club concerned and can be a scam.

Be prepared, your "big premium" will end up as a large part of your travel budget. Alec's plan sounds good considering that the "few hundred pounds a head" threshold is the one you'll likely hit for just a ticket through a tout, without the extras Alec described.

can i suggest that you look at ticket master and the hospitality packages, now, and do dummy transactions to see how it all works and how much it might cost?

you are of course targeting two of the most popular teams; if you wanted to see Reading or Southampton you'd probably have more luck!

Manchester United tickets are available via www.manutd.com and Liverpool's are on http://assets.lfcimages.com/welcome-to-liverpool-fc

As far as United are concerned, hospitality packages start at around £120 and a visit in October next year could well include a Chamions League group game. Touts outside the stadium are very well policed now and there are fewer than in past years. In any case, it's not the way to go. In this economic climate we have seen tickets available on the website for ordinary seats, unless there is a big game.

I'd guess that Liverpool's setup won't be a lot different.

Touts outside the stadium are very well policed now and there are fewer than in past years>>

not necessarily. We were very surprised to see touts out in full view of the cops last week on our way to Twickenham - in one case the tout was shouting out his wares just 10 yards from a policeman who couldn't have failed to hear and see him, and did nothing.

perhaps he was hoping to snag a ticket for himself! [lucky if he did, it was a terrific game].

A news report from the Man City/United game Dec. 9 mentioned the arrest of a tout.

not necessarily. We were very surprised to see touts out in full view of the cops last week on our way to Twickenham

Rugby Union isn't covered by Section 166 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 which only applies to designated football matches.

alan - that's a surprise. i wonder why they omitted it [or rather why they restricted the law to football matches].

The main reason for banning touts (scalpers) is to enforce crowd segregation between supporters for public order reasons. In rugby union, there is no segregation.

In rugby union, there is no segregation.>>

you're right there, Alec. we had 2 aussie girls sitting next to us at Twickenham [don't know how they got the tickets but they were VERY happy to see NZ lose] and in Paris last spring, the french supporters around us were very sporting when they lost.

in fact, is there any sport besides football where they segregate supporters?

Netball?

annhig, alanRow was absolutely correct to say that touts can be arrested for selling tickets for football games. (The odd one that is still about now whispers "Any tickets for sale"? I think that they think this a loophole in the law). It applies online and other media as well as outside the stadium. Crowd segregation as Alec says, is the main reason and is part of the reason that United pulled out of the Viagogo scheme to sell on unwanted tickets.

It charged a premium on the original cost and United decided that it was too close to touting. As I said above, for the first time in ages there are tickets available from United on their website and providing you apply early enough, you should get one. However, you might end up on the top tier in North tand and have to become a United member to obtain one.

Hospitality doesn't require membership I don't believe, but I stand to be corrected on that.

We got hospitality tickets to a ManU game a few years ago. It was really expensive, the meal was fun and ok but not gourmet, the seats were fine but definitely not excellent. You can see the seating section for the hospitality packages on their website. Anyway, we absolutely had to go the game on that particular date, so wanted 100% confirmed tickets in advance. We were thrilled with the whole thing. It was a very positive experience. Maybe it was an unusual occurrence, but they did change the game date right before our trip, then they changed it back to the original date (changing it by one day).

The day before the game, we took a tour of Old Trafford. It was fun and added to our enjoyment on game day.

travelgirl2, the reason that the date was changed was for TV, so the OP needs to be aware that this can happen. Usually there is a couple of months notice of changes for TV scheduling.

The stadium and museum tour is well worth the time/money spent on it. We recently did a tour at the Camp Nou, but the Old Trafford experience is far superior.

Hospitality doesn't require membership I don't believe, but I stand to be corrected on that.

No, but there are 'house rules', such as no wearing of club colours (shirt, scarf, hat etc), and like in any part of the stadium, offensive chanting and stirring up trouble etc may lead you to be removed.

and like in any part of the stadium, offensive chanting and stirring up trouble etc may lead you to be removed.>>

alec - fancy you suggesting that a fellow fodorite would behave like that!