The north west derby is upon us...Monday night will be the 210th time in which Manchester United & Liverpool have faced each other in the Premier League. This time however, is perhaps the most unique of all. Both sides are still searching for their first win of the season. Manchester United have lost both of their opening games to Brighton & Brentford, whilst Liverpool have drawn both of theirs to Fulham & Crystal Palace. Both teams will undoubtedly be hungry for the three points.
Past Meetings
Liverpool have won three out of the last four meetings against United, with United’s only win in the last four coming in the FA Cup back in the 2020/21 season. In fact, Manchester United haven’t beaten Liverpool in the Premier League since the 2017/18 season at Old Trafford, where United beat Liverpool 2-1. That was almost four years ago.
Of course a lot of things have changed for both sides since then. Liverpool have gone on to win absolutely everything, whereas United...well they’ve got through four managers since.
The last meeting between these two at Old Trafford was a game that lives long in the memory of Liverpool fans. Liverpool found themselves 4-0 up at half time thanks to goals from Naby Keita, Diogo Jota & two from Mo Salah. After thousands of United fans hurried for the exit after just 45 minutes played, Salah scored one more in the 2nd half to complete a historic 5-0 win.
Team News
For the hosts, Anthony Martial is likely to return to the match day squad after training with the first team this week, recovering from a thigh injury. Brandon Williams & Victor Lindelof are still ruled out as neither of them have returned to first team training.
Liverpool are still missing several key players due to injuries & suspensions. After Darwin Nunez’s red card after a collision with Joachim Andersen, the Uruguayan will miss Liverpool’s next three games. Thiago Alcantara, Diogo Jota, Caoimhin Kelleher, Curtis Jones, Joel Matip, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ibrahima Konate & Calvin Ramsay are all still ruled out. But on a positive note, Roberto Firmino is back in full team training & will most likely start for the visitors.
Predicted Line-Ups
Manchester United – De Gea, Shaw, Varane, Maguire, Dalot, Fred, McTominay, Rashford, Fernandes, Sancho, Ronaldo
Liverpool – Alisson, Robertson, Virgil, Gomez, Alexander-Arnold, Fabinho, Keita, Henderson, Diaz, Firmino, Salah
Like previously mentioned, both sides are still searching for their first win of the season. The old cliché says that form goes out of the window in these games, but don’t think that will be the case for Manchester United.
Based on what I have seen from their first two games, I would be worried if I was a United fan. Liverpool will be angry about dropping four points in their opening two games, which will bring out the hunger in their side to get the job done against their arch nemesis once again. This fixture is arguably the one you want right now if you’re a Liverpool fan. Because if your players can’t get up for these kinds of games, then you’re in trouble. I think Liverpool will be too much to handle for the hosts, beating them 2-0 with Mohammed Salah & Luis Diaz on the score sheet.
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