Preview: Liverpool V Manchester United

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The North-West Derby or Liverpool against Manchester United is one of the biggest fixtures in not just the Premier League but in English football as they are the two most successful team in English football with 38 top-flight titles between them. Both teams are having contrasting seasons. The Reds are making a strong title challenge remaining unbeaten while United are 16 points off their rivals and 8 points off the Champions League spots. So, Liverpool probably for the first time in the PL era come to this as heavy favourites but United have the upper hand in recent meetings.

Last 7 Meetings

Manchester United 2-1 Liverpool (17/18)
Liverpool 0-0 Manchester United (17/18)
Manchester United 1-1 Liverpool (16/17)
Liverpool 0-0 Manchester United (16/17)
Liverpool 0-1 Manchester United (15/16)
Manchester United 3-1 Liverpool (15/16)
Liverpool 1-2 Manchester United (14/15)

The Red Devils have been able to keep Liverpool in their last two meetings at Anfield as both matches ended goalless and have won two of their last five games at Anfield. Liverpool haven't beaten United since beating them 3-0 at Old Trafford in 2014 with their last home win against United coming in August 2013 winning 1-0 from Daniel Sturridge.

Team News

Liverpool went top of the table last week beating Bournemouth 4-0 and went through to the knockout stages of the Champions League beating Napoli 1-0. However, the Reds look short of personnel in defence with Joe Gomez, Joël Matip and Trent Alexander-Arnold all out with injury. It's likely that Nathaniel Clyne will make his first start or James Milner deployed at right-back which he played against Bournemouth. Liverpool will hope that Mohamed Salah will continue his hot streak against United as him, Sadio Mané and Roberto Firmino are yet to score against United.

Possible Liverpool XI: Alisson-Milner,Lovren,Van Dijk,Robertson-Wijnaldum,Fabinho,Këita-Mané,Firmino,Salah


For Manchester United, there's a lot of uncertainty of who's playing and who's not. Despite beating Fulham 4-1, they lost to Valencia 2-1 with Mourinho criticising his players for their performances. There are question marks on whether Paul Pogba starts on Sunday as his standoff between him and Mourinho continues after starting in midweek against Valencia. Mourinho has managed to shut out Liverpool but given the defensive troubles and the likes of Luke Shaw, Diogo Dalot, Anthony Martial, Chris Smalling, Victor Lindelöf all doubts for the game, He has a lot to not just nullify Liverpool but get at their defence.

Possible Manchester United XI: De Gea-Valencia,Bailly,Smalling,Young-Matic,Herrera,Mata-Rashford,Lukaku,Lingard


Predictions: It depends how Klopp and Mourinho set up their teams. With Liverpool more compact, United should try to beat Liverpool on the counter with Rashford, Martial and Lingard. Given that Liverpool will create chances and how leaky the United defence is, I'm going for a 2-2 draw.


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