Three weeks after Manchester United secured a stunning victory over Liverpool in the FA Cup, both sides will go toe-to-toe again on Sunday but this time in Premier League action. Erik Ten Hag’s side prevailed 4-3 in an epic contest but was on the wrong side of the same scoreline on Thursday when they were defeated at the hands of Chelsea.
Going back to March 17th when Amad Diallo sparked wild scenes within Old Trafford with his last-minute goal to send United into the FA Cup semi-finals at the expense of our rivals. This also ended the hopes of Jurgen Klopp’s Reds coming away with four trophies before the German exited Anfield. However, reality bit back at United on Thursday when heading into injury time 3-2 up against Chelsea only to see Cole Palmer’s second penalty and his winning goal in the 101st minute to condemn the Red Devils to their 12th defeat league defeat of the campaign.
With the defeat at the Blues, we set an unwanted record no side had ever gone on to lose a game in the Premier League after leading so late. The eyes of Sir Jim Ratcliffe will have noted the situation as pressure is mounting on Ten Hag to deliver results as we lie in sixth place nine points behind Tottenham and eleven behind fourth place Aston Villa.
With February seeing four wins in a row, United returns to Old Trafford having achieved one victory from their last five Premier League games taking only four points in that time. They have already upset Liverpool once this season at Old Trafford and could possibly do it again.
Manchester United Team News
United’s defensive crisis deepened after Thursday’s loss to Chelsea as we lost both centre-backs in Raphael Varane and Jonny Evans. The Northern Irishman had come on as a half-time replacement for the Frenchman before being substituted himself during the second half. Ten Hag was unable to give a definitive as to who would be the centre-back pairing on Sunday. 19-year-old Willy Kambwala could step in to play alongside Harry Maguire as both Lisandro Martinez and Victor Lindelof are out for the next few weeks due to muscular injuries.
Casemiro completed the injury crisis as he came off 15 minutes from time on Thursday and is now a doubt ahead of the Liverpool game. Tyrell Malacia (knee), Luke Shaw (thigh), Anthony Martial (groin) and Altay Bayindir (muscle) remain out of contention.
Manchester United Possible Lineup
Onana;
Wan-Bissaka, Maguire, Kambwala, Dalot;
McTominay, Mainoo;
Antony, Fernandes, Garnacho;
Hojlund.
Opposition Preview
Liverpool is in control of their destiny when it comes to challenging for the Premier League title after their 3-1 win over Sheffield United midweek though it was not as easy as it looked. Darwin Nunez was gifted the opening goal for the Reds which was then cancelled out by Connor Bradley’s own goal. Alexis Mac Allister excellent strike restored their lead before Cody Gakpo sealed all three points.
It was their third home win in a row across all competitions as Klopp’s men enter this contest one behind leaders Arsenal and level on points with Manchester City after Saturday’s results. It will be the Reds first away game since that the FA Cup defeat at the hands of Manchester United. Six of the last seven games at Old Trafford have seen Liverpool triumph. It has been 12 months since that the Reds have failed not to score away from home in the Premier League.
In addition, no other teams within Europe’s top five leagues can match Liverpool’s 16 victories and 59 goals in all tournaments in 2024. In December, both sides played out a 0-0 draw at Anfield. The Reds have not failed to score in both of their Premier League meetings with United since the 2007/08 season.
Liverpool Team News
For our opponents, Wataru Endo did not feature against Sheffield United midweek due to a knock picked up during the previous league game against Brighton. However, Jurgen Klopp has confirmed he is likely to be back in the squad for the weekend. With Endo coming back, this could see Ryan Gravenberch return to the bench leaving Alexis Mac Allister in a more advanced position. Andrew Robertson is now back and expected to take over the left-hand side from Joe Gomez.
There are a few long-term absentees for the Reds with Joel Matip (knee), Ben Doak (knee), Stefan Bajcetic (calf) and Thiago Alcantara (muscle) remaining on the sidelines. This game will come too soon for for Diogo Jota (knee), Trent Alexander-Arnold (knee), and Alisson Becker (thigh) as they are expecting to return to training next week.
Form Guide
Manchester United Premier League form: WLLWDL
Manchester United (all competitions): WLWWDL
Liverpool Premier League form: WWWDWW
Liverpool form (all competitions): WDWLWW
Prediction
The traumatic defeat at the hands of Chelsea on Thursday has now got to be put to one side as we focus on the biggest game in English football history. We have to invoke the spirit of what happened three weeks ago in the FA Cup and United may just pull something out of the hat.
Manchester United 2-1 Liverpool
