The State of Play
It becomes repetitive but, frankly, this Manchester United team are not very good and the fact they are sixth and defeated Liverpool in an FA Cup quarter-final after extra-time last month is simply astonishing. The Red Devils had a 3-2 lead at Chelsea as they went into the 100th minute of the match and contrived to somehow lose to the Blues by four goals to three and comical circumstances for the neutral.
Liverpool survived a bit of a scare on the same night as they overcame bottom-of-the-table and Championship-bound Sheffield United by three goals to one at Anfield. The Reds have probably been widely viewed as inconsistent or unconvincing throughout the campaign and yet we head into the final few weeks of the season with them sitting at the top-of-the-table ahead of this weekend’s round of fixtures.
Read our other football stories here:
Klopp admits Liverpool “not great”
Ten Hag expects Man Utd to show resilience
Rangers vs Celtic Preview
Team News
Erik ten Hag has been dealing with lots of injury issues and that has been added to with Lisandro Martinez and Victor Lindelof recently joining fellow defenders Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia on the sidelines.
Liverpool have also been coping with major, long-term injury issues to key players throughout the campaign. They remain without goalkeeper Alisson as well as the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Diogo Jota.
Expected Line-ups
Manchester United: Onana; Dalot, Maguire, Kambwala, Wan-Bissaka; Casemiro, Mainoo; Garnacho, Fernandes, Rashford; Hojlund
Liverpool: Kelleher; Bradley, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Mac Allister, Endo, Szoboszlai; Salah, Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz
What they Said
Erik ten Hag finally fumed at a Manchester United side and squad that he has endeavoured to protect, describing the collapse at Stamford Bridge as ‘unacceptable’.
Jurgen Klopp heaped the praise on the excellent Alexis Mac Allister, describing the Argentinian international as a ‘wonderful player, wonderful boy.’
When and How to Watch
This match will be played at Old Trafford and kicks off at 15:30 on Sunday April 7th. It will be shown live on Sky Sports in the UK and will be able to be streamed live via the Sky Go app in the UK.
Prediction
Manchester United have played over 40 games across all competitions so far this season and managed just six victories by more than a solitary goal. That is frankly astonishing and yet their determination and doggedness has seen them hang on in enough games to pinch really undeserved points so they can never be ruled out for that reason. If things go as they should, though, Liverpool should come out on top this time after their loss last month.
