Manchester United captain Harry Maguire is sidelined for Thursday’s rearranged Premier League clash against Liverpool.
The 28-year-old sustained ankle ligament damage against Aston Villa on Sunday and watched from the stands against Leicester on Tuesday, when manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer made 10 changes.
Anthony Martial and Phil Jones remain out for United, while Daniel James has missed recent matches.
Liverpool will be without centre-back Ozan Kabak and midfielders James Milner and Naby Keita as none of the trio have recovered from the knocks which kept them out of Saturday’s win over Southampton.
Manager Jurgen Klopp has expressed his confidence in fielding the relatively-inexperienced central-defensive partnership of Nat Phillips and 20-year-old Rhys Williams, who kept a clean sheet against Saints.
Captain Jordan Henderson will not play for the club again this season as he continues his comeback from groin surgery.
Surely, we’re owed a cracker here, aren’t we? Four of the last seven meetings between these giants have ended 0-0, spoiling many a Super Sunday along the way. This one just might be different. There’s no real tension at play. Unlike previous meetings there’s no talk of titles and United are comfortably set in the runners-up spot and already in the Europa League final.
Liverpool have more to play for with a top-four chase on the line but Jurgen Klopp won’t be changing his style despite the circumstances. With the shackles off, I think it will be front-football vs front-football, which aligns with how the markets see this with the over 3.5 goals line set at 13/8 with Sky Bet. Punters are expecting goals.
This hope of an end-to-end encounter does rest on an early goal, though. And that’s what my eyes are drawn to. Despite their high-flying season, only Crystal Palace have conceded more goals in the opening 10 minutes of matches this season than United (seven).
They are slow starters. United may be jaded after their clash with Leicester and the two-day turnaround and Liverpool have the tools to get at United early to score in the opening 10 minutes – as they did in their recent 1-1 with Newcastle. The 3/1 for the first goal to come before the 10th minute looks fair.
Manchester United have lost just one of their last 15 home games against Liverpool in all competitions (W10 D4), and are unbeaten in their last eight since a 0-3 loss in March 2014.
Liverpool haven’t lost consecutive games against Man Utd in all competitions since a run of four between 2014/2016, with the Reds losing 3-2 at Old Trafford in the FA Cup in January.
Manchester United have avoided defeat in both meetings with Liverpool in all competitions this season (W1 D1) – the last time they faced Liverpool as many as three times in a season without losing any was in 1998-99 (W2 D1), with this the eighth campaign they’ve met more than twice since then.
In the Premier League, Manchester United have won just one of their last nine meetings with Liverpool (D6 L2), and are winless in five against the Reds (D3 L2). They last had a longer winless run against Liverpool in the top-flight between December 1989 and October 1992 (7 games).
Manchester United have lost just one of their 13 Premier League games played on a Thursday (W8 D4), going down 1-3 at Middlesbrough in December 2002.
Liverpool have won just two of their six midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) Premier League games this season (D1 L3), with both of those victories coming against Tottenham. The Reds have failed to score in the four games they didn’t win.
Liverpool have won five of their last seven away league games (D1 L1), more than they had in their previous 15 on the road (W4 D6 L5).
Liverpool boss Jürgen Klopp has managed away at Man Utd without ever winning more times than any other opponent in his managerial career (6 – D4 L2).
Marcus Rashford has been involved in five goals in his last four games in all competitions for Man Utd against Liverpool at Old Trafford, scoring four and assisting one.
Read Also: Maguire Handed 21-month Prison Sentence, Man United Reacts
Mohamed Salah scored twice in Liverpool’s 2-3 defeat at Manchester United in the FA Cup this season. The only Liverpool player to score away against Man Utd in two different games in a season was 100 years ago – Harry Chambers in 1920-21.
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