Forced to relive painful memories of last season’s seven-goal slaughter, Manchester United make a short trip to Merseyside to face Liverpool in front of what is anticipated to be a record-breaking Anfield crowd on Sunday.
As many as 57,000 fans are expected to saunter through the turnstiles to witness this weekend’s headline Premier League contest, where the two titans are both aiming to rectify some midweek mistakes.
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Thanks to a successful test event on Monday, a portion of Liverpool’s Anfield Road Stand will officially open for business on Sunday – a month earlier than expected – where the hosts are hoping to welcome their highest amount of spectators in the Premier League era and their most since the days of Bill Shankly in 1973.
Barring the Merseyside derby perhaps, the Liverpool powers-that-be could arguably not have wished for a more mouthwatering battle to break their spectator record – especially if recent results against Man United are anything to go by – and Jurgen Klopp‘s side head into Sunday’s momentous occasion atop their Premier League perch.
Klopp and 12.30pm kickoffs are hardly a marriage made in heaven, and the midday misery appeared set to continue when Jean-Philippe Mateta sent Crystal Palace ahead from the penalty spot last weekend, but Mohamed Salah‘s 200th Reds goal and a fine Harvey Elliott winner saw Liverpool complete another trademark turnaround.
With Arsenal falling short against Aston Villa later in the day, Liverpool enter gameweek 17 with a one-point advantage over the Gunners and two-point cushion over the Lions – both of whom are in action at 2pm – so the Reds may have been bumped down to the bronze medal position by the time the first whistle blows at Anfield.
An experimental XI comprising fringe and academy players suffered a 2-1 Europa League loss to Union SG on Thursday, but that result paled into insignificance with a last-16 place already assured, and a seven-game Premier League winning run at home makes for incredibly pleasant reading for the Liverpool faithful, whose side have also scored at least twice in all of those triumphs.
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Taking a leaf out of Liverpool’s attacking book would not go amiss for their under-performing visitors, who also fell to a one-goal European defeat in midweek, albeit a much more disheartening one as they were booted out of the continental conversation entirely.
Even a win over Bayern Munich on the final matchday in Champions League Group A would have been rendered inconsequential by Copenhagen’s beating of Galatasaray, but Erik ten Hag‘s troops fell short in their bid for Europa League salvation, succumbing to a Kingsley Coman strike to finish bottom of the pile.
With no European football on the calendar for the first half of 2024, Ten Hag will be blessed with ample time to reverse his side’s horrendous domestic fortunes, as the downcast Red Devils were subjected to a cacophony of boos from fed up supporters in last weekend’s humiliating 3-0 Old Trafford loss to Bournemouth.
As a result, Man United enter the weekend sat five places and 10 points worse off than Liverpool in the Premier League rankings, and the Red Devils have gone over two years without winning away against a team in the top eight of the table; the Ole Gunnar Solskjaer-masterminded 3-0 success over Tottenham Hotspur in October 2021 was their last such triumph.
A penny for both Solskjaer and Ten Hag’s thoughts as Man United were blown to smithereens at Anfield in March, as Liverpool condemned the Red Devils to a 7-0 beatdown – the visitors’ heaviest Premier League defeat ever – and not since 2016 have Man United come away from the Reds’ turf with a Premier League win to shout about.
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While a handful of senior Liverpool stars were left off the travelling list for Belgium in order to enjoy well-earned breaks – Mohamed Salah, Alisson Becker, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold fall into that category – Klopp still has a sextet of injury victims out of contention for Sunday’s game.
Joel Matip (ACL), Stefan Bajcetic (calf), Andrew Robertson (shoulder) and Thiago Alcantara (hip) are all expected to return at various points in 2024, while Diogo Jota‘s muscular issue will render him unavailable for a couple more weeks too, and Alexis Mac Allister‘s nasty knee wound will prevent him from turning out against the Red Devils.
As well as hitting a double-century in Liverpool colours at Selhurst Park, Salah’s deflected effort also marked a 150th Premier League goal for the Egyptian wing king, whose 12 goals against Man United is his highest tally against a single opponent in his glittering career.
One small victory for the Reds in midweek was witnessing no more players enter the infirmary, which is more than can be said for Man United, as defensive duo Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw were both first-half casualties of their defeat to Bayern with groin and hamstring tweaks respectively.
Ten Hag expects Shaw and Marcus Rashford – who has been suffering from an illness – to be available, but Maguire is confirmed to be missing out alongside Anthony Martial (illness), Mason Mount (calf), Jadon Sancho (club suspension), Amad Diallo (knee), Christian Eriksen (knee), Lisandro Martinez (foot), Casemiro (thigh) and Tyrell Malacia (knee), while Victor Lindelof (knock) is touch-and-go.
With Fernandes suspended and Mount still in the medical bay, either Kobbie Mainoo or Hannibal Mejbri should fill the void in the centre of the park, unless Ten Hag springs a surprise by bringing Donny van de Beek back in from the cold.
Liverpool possible starting lineup:
Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Tsimikas; Szoboszlai, Endo, Gravenberch; Salah, Nunez, Diaz
Manchester United possible starting lineup:
Onana; Wan-Bissaka, Evans, Varane, Shaw; McTominay, Amrabat, Mainoo; Antony, Hojlund, Rashford
Man United may benefit from an additional two days of recovery from their European exertions, but with the bulk of Liverpool’s big names spared for their loss to Union SG, jellied legs should not come into play for the current league leaders.
A repeat of March’s seven-goal disaster should not materialise for Ten Hag’s troops, but with levels of confidence and playing personnel dangerously low, the stage is set for Liverpool to teach the Red Devils another footballing lesson.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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