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ALAN PARDEW today refused to wade into the Luis Suarez diving storm – and instead insisted his very own talisman Hatem Ben Arfa can learn a trick or two from the controversial Uruguayan.

Pardew, like Toon and Liverpool fans, was more excited about the upcoming face-off between the two Premier League magicians in what promises to be a feast of football at Anfield.

Suarez became the centre of attention during the Merseyside derby last weekend when he performed a celebratory dive right at the feet of David Moyes, who had riled the South American with taunts about his diving antics in the build-up to the match.

But Pardew chose to stay out of the diving row, and instead has heaped praise on the former Ajax ace and World Cup star who has already conjured up six goals and two assists.

Pardew told the Chronicle: “He is an outstanding talent. There is no doubt about that.

“I think you have to see how many chances he creates and how many things he does in a game.

“You could do a highlights show for him after every game.”

The coming together of skilful stars Suarez and Ben Arfa at Anfield for this weekend’s Super Sunday encounter could serve up another tasty treat in a fixture that has been packed with goals, incident and controversy down the years.

Ultimately, though, United still haven’t won in the Premier League in front of the Kop in 18 years, but Pardew has urged Ben Arfa to use all of his tools to conjure up some magic on Merseyside.

The Toon gaffer said: “I’ve been talking to Hatem about trying to have the same impact that Luis is having.

“Hatem almost did on Sunday. You could have put him in that category.

“We’re looking at our own assets and we want them to worry about us.”

Much has been made of United’s scrappy display against West Bromwich Albion last Sunday.

But Pardew shrugged off the manner of the performance and says there were plenty of positives to build on.

He said: “You still have to do a lot of things right to get a win.

“Regardless of being a bit fortunate, you still have to defend well and there are a lot of things we did well. Sometimes things go unnoticed.

“Our passing and movement let us down a little bit.”

Meanwhile, United are continually assessing the fitness of Demba Ba.

Ba hobbled out of the West Brom game with a calf injury and is rated at 50-50 by the United boss.