North West Derby Showdown: Manchester United vs Liverpool: Key Players, Predictions, and Lineups

This Sunday, we witness the 65th North West Derby in the Premier League era. Manchester United holds a substantial lead with 29 wins compared to Liverpool’s 19 (16 draws). At Old Trafford, Manchester United has a strong record against Liverpool, winning 16 out of 32 games. Liverpool has managed 8 wins and 8 draws in these encounters.

Recently, Liverpool has turned the tables on Manchester United, winning 5 out of the last 10 matches, while Manchester United has only 1 win and 4 draws. It will be interesting to see if new Liverpool head coach Arne Slot can continue the recent success against such fierce rivals, following in the footsteps of Jürgen Klopp.

Key Players to Watch:

• Liverpool: Mohamed Salah, is the all time goal scorer against Manchester United, having scored 11 goals in 13 Premier League appearances
• Manchester United: Bruno Fernandes, the creative force in midfield, and Marcus Rashford, who can cause Trent grief on the right with his pace.

Liverpool last 5 games:

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Man Utd last 5 games:

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Comparing both teams’ recent form in competitive games, Liverpool looks more impressive. Manchester United suffered a last-minute loss against Brighton, conceding in the 90+5 minute. Offensively, Manchester United has struggled slightly, scoring only 2 goals in their opening games, compared to Liverpool’s 4 goals. However, this could change with Manchester United using a striker upfront with Joshua Zirkzee expected to start.

Liverpool vs Manchester United in the Premier League

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Recent form seems to favor Liverpool, but Manchester United’s 2 draws and their FA Cup victory over Liverpool (which they went on to win) may indicate that Liverpool’s recent dominance in the Derby might be waning.

Injuries:

• Liverpool: Curtis Jones
• Manchester United: Rasmus Højlund, Tyrell Malacia, Mason Mount, Victor Lindelöf, Luke Shaw, Leny Yoro

Predicted Lineups:

With the transfer window closed, Liverpool has only bolstered their aging squad with Federico Chiesa, who won’t feature on Sunday unless a player gets injured. Manchester United has been much more active, bringing in 5 new players: Leny Yoro (CB), Matthijs de Ligt (CB), Joshua Zirkzee (FWD), Noussair Mazraoui (RB), and Manuel Ugarte (CDM).

Liverpool’s lineup will likely remain unchanged from last week’s game:

• GK: Alisson
• DEF: Trent, Konaté, Virgil, Robertson
• MID: Gravenberch, Mac Allister, Szoboszlai
• FWD: Mo Salah, Diaz, Jota

Manchester United’s team will see some changes due to Mason Mount’s injury. The real intrigue will be whether Erik ten Hag uses Garnacho over Diallo, and whether new signings De Ligt and Ugarte start or come off the bench:

• GK: Onana
• DEF: Mazraoui, Maguire, Martinez, Dalot
• MID: Casemiro, Mainoo, Fernandes
• FWD: Diallo, Rashford, Zirkzee

Considering the new signings and both teams aiming to go into the international break without losing 3 points tomorrow, this could easily be a low-scoring game with 1 or 2 goals. Even though Liverpool scored 3 against Manchester United in pre-season, those games don’t reflect the intensity of real competitive matches. Arne Slot goes in with a clean slate against Erik ten Hag.

My Prediction: Manchester United 0-1 Liverpool