Manchester United welcome Liverpool to Old Trafford this weekend to renew their historic rivalry. The two Premier League heavyweights will go to battle and give the fans another gladiatorial showdown.
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United raised their season curtains with a 1-0 win over Fulham. The Reds had tempered an early barrage of attacks before overpowering their opponents, landing a late blow through new signing Joshua Zirkzee.
However, old cracks began to appear in their second league match against Brighton & Hove Albion, led by the youngest manager in the top flight, Fabian Hurzeler.
Brighton outwitted the 19-time Premier League champions. Billy Gilmour, substitute Carlos Baleba, and an aged James Milner ran rings around the United midfield of Bruno Fernandes, Kobbie Mainoo, and Casemiro.
Casemiro was particularly poor and regressed to his disappointing showings from last season after looking markedly improved against Fulham.
United manager Erik ten Hag has many issues to sort out in this team.
Andre Onana has not covered himself in glory, his defence remains flaky, the midfield is porous, and the attackers are misfiring. He must address these flaws now or risk getting the boot by December.
Meanwhile, a new manager has taken the reign in Merseyside and is enamouring himself with the Kop. Arne Slot stepped into the big boots of Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool, and it fits him nicely.
Despite getting only one new player in the transfer market, Slot rolled his sleeves to get to the crucial work of imprinting his ideas and philosophies on this team.
Liverpool began their 2024/25 campaign with a hard-fought 2-0 win over newcomers Ipswich Town before a comfortable 2-0 victory at Anfield against Brentford.
Slot has this team playing free-flowing football, and more importantly, he has shored up a defence that would not stop shipping goals last term.
Head-to-Head
United and Liverpool share one of the fiercest football rivalries, but the clash has been lopsided in recent years, with the Merseysiders having the upper hand.
Liverpool have lost just one of their last six Premier League away games against United.
They have won five of their previous ten league clashes with the Manchester club (D4, L1), including a 5-0 mullering at Old Trafford and a 7-0 humiliation at Anfield.
Liverpool’s only loss to United in that run was a 2-1 defeat in August 2022, with Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford delivering the goods before Mohamed Salah set up an insane final few minutes with a late strike.
Liverpool have started this season in scintillating form. The Reds have the highest expected goals total (5.3) and the lowest expected goals against total (1.0) in the league.
The latter is significant, considering how the Reds leaked goals for fun in the final Klopp days. They kept only one clean sheet in their final 11 league matches.
However, none of their last nine managers have won their first league meeting with Man United since Bob Paisley beat them 3-1 in November 1975.
Slot will believe he is primed to break that duck based on their terrific start to the season and the recent gulf in class between them.
United must be particularly wary of Egyptian winger Salah. He is still in terrific shape and goalscoring form at 32, netting in their first two league games.
Salah is also a scourge for the home side. He is the highest-scoring visiting player to Old Trafford in Premier League history (six goals).
United will take solace from the fact that Liverpool didn’t beat them in the league last term. They played two league draws on either side of an epic United 4-3 victory in the FA Cup.
They will also be boosted by Rashford’s scoring record against the six-time UEFA Champions League winners.
The England international has netted Liverpool seven times, and all of these strikes have come in his ten appearances against them at Old Trafford. He carries United’s best hopes on his weary shoulders.
The key battle in this game will be in midfield. If United get overrun by Liverpool in the centre, it could be a long day for them. United must show bravery by standing their ground against Liverpool’s suffocating press.
But they also need to be tidy with the ball to avoid turning it over to one of football’s most devastating counterattacking teams.
Interestingly, Slot and Ten Hag met four times in the Eredivisie, with the former’s AZ Alkmaar beating Ten Hag’s Ajax twice in 2019/20 before Ten Hag did the double over his compatriot in 2021/22.
Team News
The season has barely started, and United already have a handful of players languishing on the doctor’s table.
New signing Leny Yoro had barely finished his initiation song before sustaining a knock that saw him presented to the fans with crutches. He will be out for the next three months.
Left-back Luke Shaw is back on the treatment table like he never left. He continues his long-running battles with injuries, and his supposed back-up, Tyrell Malacia, remains sidelined. The Dutchman’s last United outing came versus Fulham on May 28, 2023.
Also, Swedish defender Victor Lindelof will miss the clash with a toe issue, while striker Rasmus Hojlund has started the season on the back foot after suffering a hamstring problem.
On the other hand, besides Curtis Jones, Liverpool have a clean bill of health. The England youth international has been dealing with a niggling groin injury and hopes to return to action after the international break.
Man United potential starting line-up:
(4-2-3-1): Andre Onana; Noussair Mazraoui, Matthijs De Ligt, Lisandro Martinez, Diogo Dalot; Kobbie Mainoo, Casemiro; Amad Diallo, Bruno Fernandes, Alejandro Garnacho; Joshua Zirkzee.
Liverpool potential starting line-up:
(4-3-3): Alisson Becker; Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ibrahima Konate, Virgil Van Dijk, Andy Robertson; Dominick Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister, Ryan Gravenberch; Mohamed Salah, Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota.
Prediction
Liverpool’s recent dominance over United looks set to continue this weekend.
The Merseysiders look like a lean, clean killing machine while their hapless rivals look a shadow of Sir Alex Ferguson’s teams.
This rejuvenated Liverpool already laid down the marker with an impressive 3-0 win over United in their United States of America pre-season clash.
The Reds tore their counterparts from limb to limb, and we could see more of the same in the Premier League.
Liverpool will likely emerge victorious, securing a resounding victory that will send a clear message to the rest of the Premier League that they are back.
Salah has tormented United for years, and expect him to bag a couple of goal contributions to add to his tally. He has netted in his last six away games against United in all competitions (9 goals in total).
Prediction: Liverpool win 3-0
