Preview: Manchester United vs Liverpool
Liverpool face a tough battle when they travel to Old Trafford to take on Manchester United.
MANCHESTER UNITED VS. LIVERPOOL
| Sunday, April 7th |
Premier League | Old Trafford
3:30PM GMT/10:30AM EST
Liverpool reasserted their two point lead above Manchester City on Thursday with a win over Sheffield United. Now they have a tougher battle when they go to Old Trafford to take on Manchester United.
Manchester United destroyed the Reds’ dreams of sending Jürgen Klopp off with a quadruple to remember them by in the late stages of their FA Cup match last month. Despite a poor season, they’ll be looking to do that again at home. Their defeat to Chelsea means that they only have an outside shot of scraping into the top four. Basically all they have to play for is the chance to spoil another Liverpool dream — this one being their 20th Premier League title.
It will be tough for the Red Devils with Liverpool in their current fine form. Keeping clean sheets remains a struggle for them, but the lads up front have been on fire. In particular, Darwin Núñez and Alexis Mac Allister are both currently having the time of their lives, and it shows in their performances on the pitch and in front of the goal. Mohamed Salah is Mohamed Salah, no further commentary necessary. He loves playing against Manchester United, and we love that for him.
Wataru Endo and, excitingly, Andy Robertson should both be in contention to start on Sunday, which is great news for the defensive side of things.
Predicted Liverpool Lineup (4-3-3)
Kelleher; Bradley, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Mac Allister, Endo, Szoboszlai; Salah, Núñez, Diaz
Endo was unavailable in midweek due to a knock he received. However, Klopp was confident that he’d be fit to return at Old Trafford. Robertson has been cleared for action after going off injured during international duty.
Liverpool continue to be without the services of long-term absentees Joel Matip, Ben Doak, Stefan Bajcetic, and Thiago Alcantara. There’s better news on the horizon for Diogo Jota, Trent Alexander-Arnold, and Alisson Becker who won’t be ready for Sunday, but are getting much closer to returning to training.
For Manchester United, ten Hag has a defensive crisis on his hands. He lost both Jonny Evans and Raphael Varane in their midweek defeat to Chelsea. This in addition to being without Victor Lindelof, Lisandro Martinez, Tyrell Malacia, Luke Shaw, and Anthony Martial. Altay Bayindir and Casemiro are both doubts.
What a lovely to change of pace for it not to be Liverpool in the midst of an injury crisis.
What the Managers Had to Say
Jurgen Klopp: “United is a top side playing at home, we all know that. But we cannot just tell, ‘Let’s do what we did from minute 15 to, I don’t know, 70-something.’ Football is not that easy. We have to find a way to cause United problems and they will try exactly the same.”
Erik ten Hag: “I have to manage the game and I have to manage the team. You have seen we have qualities. We have some great players. We can be in momentum and we can play at very high standards. We have seen today an example and we have seen against Liverpool. We can compete with the best and we can beat the best teams in the Premier League.”
The Officials
Referee: Anthony Taylor. Assistants: Gary Beswick, Adam Nunn. Fourth official: Craig Pawson. VAR: John Brooks. Assistant VAR: Richard West.
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