PREVIEW

MATCH: MANCHESTER UNITED vs. Liverpool

COMPETITION: Premier League

VENUE – Old Trafford

CHANNEL: Sky Sports

DATE/KO: Monday 22nd August 2022 – 20:00pm

OFFICIAL: Michael Oliver (VAR: Darren England)

 

I think it’s fair to say there has never been a bigger gap in quality between the two giants of English football than there is right now.

Man United haven’t enjoyed silverware success since winning the Europa League in 2017.

In that time, Liverpool have won the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, League Cup and Club World Cup.

However, both teams have started the season poorly with Man United currently sitting 19th in the table, being one of only two teams with 0 points on the board.

On the other hand, Liverpool have failed to win their first two games against Fulham and Crystal Palace despite playing quite well in both.

So either Man United’s losing streak or Liverpool’s winless run will come to an end on Monday at Old Trafford.

Aside from the pitch, Man United fans will once again make their voices heard as they protest against the Glazer ownership.

A march is set to begin at 5pm as they arrive at the stadium for 7pm.

The protest is called Empty Old Trafford and it is thought fans of the club will not enter the ground for the game.

Reports are suggesting that in order to counter this protest, new signing Casemiro will be unveiled on the pitch before kickoff, similar to Raphael Varane’s presentation against Leeds last season.

Last Meeting – Liverpool 4-0 Manchester United

Man United lost by an aggregate scoreline on 9-0 to Liverpool last campaign and the previous meeting between the two was a 4-0 nil victory for the home side.

Luis Diaz opened the scoring within 5 minutes before Paul Pogba was subbed off 10 minutes into the game.

Mo Salah then added the first of his brace within 22 minutes before now Bayern Munich player Sadio Mane made it 3 just before 70 minutes.

The Egyptian winger doubled his goal tally in the 85th minute to secure an embarrassing 4-0 defeat for the Red Devils.

That was the only game between the two sides that German coach Ralf Rangnick managed before being replaced by Erik ten Hag.

Of course, ten Hag has already beaten Liverpool in pre-season to win the Bangkok Century Cup but this will be a far different game to the one in Thailand.

Man United Team News

Manchester United have a few minor injuries to deal with before they host Liverpool this evening.

Brandon Williams, Facundo Pellistri and Victor Lindelof are all on the sidelines for tonight’s game due to little knocks.

Anthony Martial is reportedly fit and may feature in some capacity after missing the opening two games due to a hamstring tweak.

So who will Erik ten Hag pick to face the might of Liverpool?

The Dutchman’s hands are firmly tied behind his back with the goalkeeping situation.

Despite David De Gea‘s horrorshow against Brentford, I don’t see Tom Heaton being given the gloves for such a big derby game so I think Dave will get another opportunity to show he can perform at the required level.

Both full-back positions are up for debate after poor performances from Dalot and Shaw so I believe ten Hag will use this as an opportunity to switch the widemen up.

Aaron Wan Bissaka has been out of sorts since ten Hag’s arrival but I think he will be given the honours of dealing with Luis Diaz as Tyrell Malacia will have the task of battling Mohamed Salah in his first Premier League start.

With news breaking earlier today suggesting Harry Maguire will not start tonight, this all but confirms a centre back partnership of Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez however both need to up their game following recent showings.

Despite Casemiro signing for the club, he will not feature as one of the starting XI tonight so close your eyes because I feel McFred gets their last outing in the game. A swansong for the partnership of Scott Mctominay and Fred.

Ten Hag needs to demonstrate his ruthless side in tonight’s encounter and I think he does his by dropping Bruno Fernandes to the bench in favour of starting Christian Eriksen.

The front three yet again writes itself. Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford will no doubt start this game and the only real questions being posed is about the striker role.

With Martial only just coming back from his injury, Cristiano Ronaldo will probably be the man to lead the line in this main event match.

STARTING XI: DE GEA, WAN BISSAKA, VARANE, MARTINEZ, MALACIA, FRED, MCTOMINAY, ERIKSEN, SANCHO, RONALDO, RASHFORD 

Liverpool Team News

The domestic cup champions are a far more depleted squad than that of Manchester United’s.

Calvin Ramsey, Thiago, Ibrahim Konate, Alex Oxlade Chamberlain, Diogo Jota and Curtis Jones are all injured for the match as is Irish goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher.

Former Man United target Darwin Nunez will also be absent from the game after a red card against Crystal Palace last Monday.

This makes it a lot easier to try and read what Liverpool will do with their team with the predicted line-up below.

STARTING XI: ALISSON, ALEXANDER-ARNOLD, VAN DIJK, MATIP, ROBERTSON, FABINHO, MILNER, HENDERSON, SALAH, FIRMINO, DIAZ 

Prediction

I don’t think there is a single Man United fan that is predicting anything other than a loss here it’s just a matter of how much. I think it won’t reach the humiliation of last season and of Brentford last week but I do think Liverpool recorded a solid 2-0 away win to kickstart their season.

What are you predictions for the game? Let us know down below.