Manchester United v Liverpool: Preview

Liverpool head to Old Trafford looking to equal Manchester City’s record of 18 straight league wins against a Manchester United side looking bereft of confidence. Following a 2-1 victory over Leicester, coupled with United’s 1-0 defeat at Newcastle, the Reds are 15 points clear of their bitter rivals after just eight games; the biggest points margin between the sides in Premier League history at this stage of the season.

Liverpool’s squad have had minimal involvement with their respective national teams: Sadio Mane played just one match, albeit in Singapore, whilst Roberto Firmino was twice substituted on the hour mark, with his last game played much earlier than recent international breaks. Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joe Gomez were unused substitutes in both of England’s games whilst Jordan Henderson played 90 minutes in both. Jordan Henderson and Gini Wijnaldum, however, both played 180 minutes for England and Holland so may be rested at Old Trafford. The likes of Alisson, Mo Salah, Naby Keita and Joel Matip all remained on Merseyside, getting a much needed fortnight off.

The Reds will be hoping to call upon Alisson, Salah and Matip as all three returned to full training this week after respective injury issues, giving us an even bigger chance of beating Manchester United, with Klopp for the first time this season having a fully fit squad to choose from.

The key to beating United is to unlock their generally sturdy defence; the Red Devils have conceded an average of a goal a game which isn’t particularly poor, whilst their xGA (goals United would have expected to concede) stands at 6.18, which is the best in the league. It is worth noting that Liverpool’s xGA is the second best, at 7.38. Liverpool will need a much more proactive performance than February’s dour 0-0 draw, which was littered with first half injuries, with a total of four injury enforced substitutions, three for United and one for Liverpool. Liverpool had 65% possession that day but could only muster up a misley seven attempts with just one on target. Liverpool’s main problem was ball progression: the loss of Roberto Firmino meant that Liverpool really struggled with building towards goal. Trent Alexander-Arnold also started on the bench in that game, which again may have also contributed towards an inefficient performance. Liverpool’s front three have tended to struggle in big matches away from home, so if there was ever a game to dismiss that criticism: it’s Sunday.

Liverpool will be boosted by the news that Paul Pogba and David De Gea have both been ruled out with injuries. De Gea especially has been the scourge of many a Liverpool side over the past few years, and it’s a tough game for Sergio Romero to be thrown in at the deep end. Everybody knows that Paul Pogba on his day is a game-changer; those days seemingly are few and far between, so his loss may not be as keenly felt, but it certainly leaves United’s midfield options a hell of a lot weaker.

 

To help preview the game, we spoke to football writer Ryan Baldi, author of “The Next Big Thing: How Football’s Wonderkids Lose Their Way”, and contributor for the Liverpool Echo, The Guardian, Independent and FourFourTwo, amongst others.

First off, thank you Ryan for agreeing to take part. What, in your opinion, is responsible for the current malaise at Manchester United?

It’s a combination of factors, all separate yet related. The Glazers seem balsé about the on-field decline, and have entrusted footballing decisions to a man in Ed Woodward who is unfit for that side of his remit. Woodward keeps making bad calls over who should manage the team, and even if we make allowances for the difficult circumstances they have operated in, those managers have performed badly. And then – consequently, to an extent – the players appear unmotivated.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is coming under fire for a pretty dour record since taking the job permanently, do you think he’s the man long-term to take United forward?

I don’t. I didn’t see the sense in them giving him the full-time job when they did – why not just wait until the end of the season? – and since then he has looked out of his depth. It’s damning but true that I don’t think a single Premier League club would swap managers with United at the moment. He seems a very nice guy and has done some decent things at United, but the only success on his CV came within a league considered of a similar quality to League One; regardless of his playing career, that shouldn’t be enough to get a job as big managing Manchester United.

Moving onto the game, a lot is made of Liverpool’s ferocious attack and United have a solid enough defence, do you feel the midfield is the key on Sunday?

United certainly need to do a lot better in midfield if they are to stand a chance. It was negligent of them to not sign at least two midfielders in the summer and they are paying the price for that now; they’ve been far too easy to play through. Liverpool’s midfield is often cited as their weakness, but I’m not sure I buy that. They are, to a degree, workmanlike, but I think that’s a necessity given the freedom the full-backs and the front three enjoy. I think Fabinho is an exceptional defensive midfielder, and Georginio Wijnaldum has grown into a real box-to-box force. I’m not the world’s biggest Jordan Henderson fan but his leadership skills have developed in recent years and he seems a valued influence. If that’s the three, I think they can contain United without too much trouble.

Salah, Mane and Firmino have form for struggling in big games away from home, do you see this as the perfect opportunity for them to really put to bed any criticism?

It’s a big game against a bad team, so there is an opportunity there for them to put on a show. United have been decent at the back, and Wan-Bissaka up against Sadio Mane should be a fun battle to watch. I don’t think it will necessarily be easy for Liverpool to pull United’s back four around, but they’ll get chances and they have three very good finishers.

United potentially have key players like Wan-Bissaka, Shaw and Pogba returning, what do you feel their best approach would be to beat this Liverpool side?

Any semblance of a tactical plan Solskjaer has appears to revolve around breaking quickly on the counter. They’ve looked short of ideas when confronted with a deep-set defence, but on the break they can cause problems. It’s an approach they’ll probably be forced into against Liverpool, but that could play into United’s strengths.

If Liverpool win they’ll make it 9 wins from 9 and equal the record for consecutive wins but they have struggled at Old Trafford in recent years. Would a victory on Sunday make Liverpool as firm favourites to win the league?

I think so. Manchester City are a phenomenal side, and if anyone can overcome an eight-point deficit it’s them. Liverpool have that precious knack of winning even when not playing well, though – they just don’t look like they’ll drop many points this season.

Just how impressed are you at the job Klopp has done over his four year tenure?

Hugely impressed. He’s done – and continues to do – a remarkable job. Klopp is a great leader and excels in the base requirement of a football manager: getting the very best out of each of his players. But he is also smart enough to acknowledge his weaknesses and blind spots, and so he surrounds himself with smart people who strengthen his set-up. Even to have brought Liverpool to the brink of contendership in a division in which City are breaking records and benefitting from bottomless pockets is some achievement; to deliver a first Premier League title in those circumstances would be incredible.

Finally, a score prediction for Sunday?

It’s a mark of how far United have fallen, but I think Liverpool could play at 70% of their potential and still win this one relatively comfortably. 0-2.

Well I think we would certainly take that on Sunday! For what it’s worth, 2-0 would also be my prediction, I personally feel United are very poor on the ball, and we’re so good off it I find it unlikely that they’ll score, and I also think that we’re just so superior that we’ll definitely score a couple!