Manchester United welcome Liverpool to Old Trafford in a blockbuster Monday Night Football showdown.
Victory would see Man Utd climb out of the relegation zone, whilst Liverpool can climb as high as sixth with a win.
Team News
Anthony Martial is set to return for Man Utd after recovering from a hamstring injury which kept him out of their last two matches.
Facundo Pellistri (ankle), Victor Lindelof (knock), Brandon Williams (unspecified) and Mason Greenwood (personal) are ruled out.
Liverpool will be without Darwin Nunez as he begins a three-match suspension after his red card in their 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace last weekend.
Roberto Firmino (fitness) is set to return after he sat out last weekend’s match as a precaution.
Caoimhin Kelleher, Joel Matip (both groin), Ibrahima Konate (knee), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Diogo Jota (both hamstring), Curtis Jones (calf), Thiago Alcantara (thigh) and Calvin Ramsay (unspecified) are ruled out.
Stat Attack
- Man Utd are winless in their last eight league meetings against Liverpool (D3, L5).
- Liverpool have lost just one of their last five league visits to Old Trafford (W2, D2, L1)
- Eight of Liverpool’s nine goals in their last two visits to Utd have been scored by combination of Mohamed Salah (4), Roberto Firmino (2) and Diogo Jota (2).
- Utd haven’t failed to win any their opening three league matches in a new season since 1992-93 season, when they claimed just one point from their first three games that campaign (D1, L2).
- Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool have conceded first in each of their last six league matches dating back to May (W3, D3), with the opening conceded goal in their last two matches scored in 32nd minute.
Prediction
Gutless is the only phrase which summed up Utd’s performance in their defeat at Brentford last weekend because they lacked basic urgency both on and off the ball, on top of shambolic defending plus goalkeeping in open play and set pieces whilst attack simply can be described as toothless.
Liverpool’s injury crisis on the other hand can’t get any worse than at this early stage of the season but they’ve done well to scrape two draws so far, but there is plenty of work to do because they’re yet to score in the first-half whilst their defending hasn’t been at its best which is a worry.
Klopp however only has three forwards at his disposal for this match plus Harvey Elliott and Fabio Carvalho to cover the winger positions, so there are surely tactical questions over his team coming into this match in order to preserve his available players and avoid further injuries.
I however feel that Liverpool should have the firepower to beat Utd if Erik Ten Hag’s Red Devils are still lacklustre across all areas, whilst home fans protesting won’t do much to lift Utd’s mood even if Casemiro’s transfer is confirmed prior to kick-off.
Prediction: Manchester United 0-2 Liverpool
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