Man Utd v Liverpool – Preview, Predictions and Best Bets

Man Utd host Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday. The Red Devils won the last meeting in the FA Cup. Erik Ten Hag’s side are riddled with defensive injuries and the Reds are playing well with two wins and 59 shots attempted in the last week alone.

Man Utd Form

Man Utd’s league season is threatening to unravel. Their last five EPL matches have seen one victory and three losses. A 2-1 home defeat to Fulham saw them allow 17 shots at Old Trafford. A 1-0 FA Cup win at Nottingham Forest preceded a 3-1 loss to Man City with 3.33 xG and 27 shots allowed.

Their only league win in this streak was 2-0 at home to Everton with two penalties. They allowed 23 shots and only put up 1.24 non-penalty xG themselves in that win. A 4-3 win in extra time followed to beat Liverpool 4-3 in the FA Cup. The last week has been a mess, allowing 31 shots in a 1-1 draw at Brentford and 28 shots in a 4-3 loss at Chelsea. Both matches saw very late goals to drop four points.

Man Utd Team News

Man Utd have an injury crisis at the back. Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia are injured at left back and Diogo Dalot struggled there in midweek. Lisandro and Victor Lindelof are out for a month.

Both Raphael Varane and Jonny Evans went off injured against Chelsea so Willy Kambwala could partner Harry Maguire. Casemiro is another injury concern with Scott McTominay on standby. Marcus Rashford could be benched against with Antony getting the nod instead.

Man Utd Motivation

United would take any sort of win in this game. Even a draw would be a great result.

Ten Hag’s side are incapable of absorbing pressure so they may have to score several goals to win this match. They’re nine points off fifth spot and just five points above 10th place.

Liverpool Form

Jurgen Klopp’s side are in great form. Their last 30 league matches have only seen two defeats, they won a cup already and they sit top of the table. One match they failed to win was at home to Man City despite outshooting Pep Guardiola’s side 12-3 in the second half.

Before the last international break, they looked complacent in a 4-3 loss to Man Utd in the FA Cup after extra time. They allowed 3.93 Expected Goals in an uncharacteristically poor outing. After the FIFA break, they have beaten Brighton 2-1 and Sheffield United 3-1 at home. They outshot the Seagulls 30-9 and the Blades 29-5 in dominant displays.

Liverpool Team News

Liverpool have Curtis Jones back in midfield and Andy Robertson available at left back. The latter could be benched in favour of Joe Gomez once again though. Alisson remains absent in goal.

Diogo Jota is still ruled out with a knee injury and this match comes too soon for Trent Alexander-Arnold. It could be just one change from the midweek win with Wataru Endo returning in place of Ryan Gravenberch.

Liverpool Motivation

Nothing less than a win will do at Old Trafford. The Reds will be motivated by revenge after the FA Cup loss.

Liverpool will press high and look to dominate this match. They may drop off a bit when leading and be more pragmatic.

Key Stats

Man Utd have lost 3 of their last 5 EPL matches.

Man Utd have allowed 250 shots in their last 11 matches (25 per match)

Man Utd have seen over 2.5 goals in 8 of their last 9 matches vs Liverpool.

Liverpool have scored at least 3 goals in 7 of their last 11 EPL fixtures.

Liverpool have won 17 of their last 21 matches

Verdict

United look like a shambles right now. Liverpool had a hand in their own downfall in the FA Cup loss to Ten Hag’s men. They should avenge that defeat with a convincing win at Old Trafford with goals galore expected.

Best Bet: Liverpool win at 1.64

Alternate Bet: Liverpool to win (-1 handicap) at 2.45

Value Bet: Liverpool win and Over 3.5 goals at 2.80

Goalscorer Tip: Salah to score 2 or more goals at 4.50

James O'Connor

James is a football analyst who writes about the tactics of the PSL and English Premier League. He holds the UEFA A coaching licence and has previously worked for several clubs in analysis roles.Twitter: https://twitter.com/footy_analysis