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Manchester United travel west down the M62 later on this afternoon for the 212th clash between the historical rivals.
In many ways, seen as the biggest game in English football, both sides enter the game in very different form and contrasting head spaces.
Liverpool sit top of the league, and with Manchester City’s stuttering title defence, will be smelling the potential to claim only their second Premier League crown. Conversely, Manchester United lie seventh, ten points behind the leaders in a season ravaged by injuries and devoid of any coherent style of play.
However, the great thing about football is its unpredictable nature. Last season, just before the titanic match at Anfield, the home side were the ones flailing and United were enjoying a renaissance under Erik ten Hag, having just knocked out Barcelona and won the Carabao cup the weekend before. The Mancunian side went on to lose 7-0.
Here are three big plotlines to look out for.
Can United break the Anfield curse?
As former player, Gary Neville has said, winning at Anfield is everything. Commenting on former manager Sir Alex Ferguson’s attitude to these games, “the most consistently angry I saw him was at Anfield. Half time, end of the game… he couldn’t stand losing at Anfield”.
The problem is, United have been losing. You need to travel back to the final nail in the coffin of the Jose Mourinho era, December 2018, to find the Red Devils’ last goal at Anfield when Jesse Lingard bundled in an equaliser to make it 1-1. United would go on to lose 3-1 and “the special one” would be sacked shortly after.
You need to go back to January 2016 to find United’s last win at Liverpool’s famous old ground. This was under Louis van Gaal, who for all his faults, had an incredible record versus the Merseysiders, winning all four Premier League games against the Reds. Even then, United were outplayed but came away with an undeserved 1-0 win after Wayne Rooney’s goal.
The last time the Old Trafford side deservedly won there would be the famous “Juanfield” game of 2015 where United dominated Liverpool and the United fans delighted as Juan Mata scored a sumptuous bicycle kick and Steven Gerrard was sent off in his last ever derby appearance. Wonderful.
Can Erik ten Hag calm speculation about his future?
After losing 12 games already this season, the Dutch manager must be nervously approaching this match even if he publicly remains confident over his position.
Ten Hag has been linked with jobs such as Borussia Dortmund as of late and as The Peoples Person has recently commented on, another humbling defeat at Anfield could have serious repercussions for his time at the club.
The good news is that under immense pressure, Ten Hag has delivered versus Liverpool before. Going back to the start of the 2022/2023 season, United had lost their opening two fixtures against Brighton and had just got spanked by Brentford 4-0. United then had to play Liverpool at Old Trafford and were not given much of a prayer. However, the Mancunian side responded and won 2-1 thanks to goals from Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford and eased the early pressure on the former Ajax coach. More of the same please.
Can Marcus Rashford turn around his season and score his first goal at Anfield?
Speaking of Rashford, the player of the season last year has really struggled this term. He has scored two goals all year and one came from the penalty spot. The player has looked unhappy and bereft of confidence.
The forward has a good record versus the Merseysiders, as he does against most big teams. He has scored six goals against Liverpool. George Wall, who played his football over 100 years ago, is United’s all-time scorer against the Anfield side with nine goals, for context.
However, mirroring his team, all those goals have come at the home comforts of Old Trafford. What a way to kick start his season by scoring the winning goal against Liverpool at Anfield. That is if norovirus doesn’t stand in his way, of course.
All in all, this game is always enormous but it feels even grander this time out. Manchester United need the win. Let’s be positive and hope they can get it.
