The two most decorated clubs in English football could not be having more contrasting seasons. At the halfway stage, Liverpool are top of the table both domestically and in the newly rejigged Champions League. Arne Slot has managed to surpass the wildest dreams of even the most optimistic Anfield regular and he looks nailed on to lift the Premier League in his first season at the helm.
For Manchester United, however, things are at perhaps their lowest point in decades. Ruben Amorim has replaced Erik ten Hag at Old Trafford, but there has been little sign of a new-manager bounce and the giants of English football sit perilously close to the relegation zone. United currently seem more likely to go down than to secure a European place.
Since that remarkable victory over Manchester City in the middle of December, Amorim’s side have lost four in a row ahead of this trip to Anfield, a match followed by Arsenal away in the FA Cup. That could mean six defeats on the bounce and the atmosphere could turn toxic, however much the new manager stresses the need for patience as he attempts to implement an entirely new style of play.
Liverpool have only dropped points at home to Fulham in recent weeks and have a comfortable lead at the top with the added bonus of a game in hand over their rivals for the title.
Ibrahima Konate and Joe Gomez are unavailable for the hosts while Real Madrid’s pursuit of Trent Alexander-Arnold continues apace with the England defender seemingly open to a move. United will be without fellow Englishmen Luke Shaw and Mason Mount once more while it remains to be seen whether Marcus Rashford might finally get some minutes or if he has already played his final game for United.
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Liverpool vs Manchester United odds
Venue: Anfield — Liverpool
Time: 4:30 p.m. GMT (11:30 a.m. ET), Sunday
Streaming (US only): Fubo (try for free)
Form guide (league only)
Liverpool: 14-3-1, 45 points (1st); W-W-W-D-D
Manchester United: 6-4-9, 28 points (14th); L-L-L-W-L
Match prediction
Liverpool 4-0 Manchester United
They say anything can happen in this kind of game and the form book goes out the window, but it’s hard to see anything other than a comfortable home win. Liverpool are scoring goals for fun while their rivals struggle in almost every aspect of professional football. Amorim will not abandon his principles and embrace pragmatism even if it means, in his own words, “suffering” in the short term. Stranger things than an away win have happened, but not often, and even a draw looks well beyond the capabilities of these United players at present.
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(Photo of Arne Slot and Virgil van Dijk: Julian Finney / Getty Images)