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Can anyone stop them?
English football’s two most successful clubs meet once again this weekend in the latest instalment of their fierce rival, league leaders Liverpool facing the only side to have taken points off them so far this season in Manchester United.
Liverpool host United at Anfield on Sunday at a time where Jurgen Klopp’s side seek to skip another major hurdle as they close in on a first title in three decades.
High-flying Kop hold a 14-point lead at the summit after accumulating 61 points from 21 matches, the best start ever to a season in the five top-flight leagues in Europe. Klopp’s side head into this clash having won 12 consecutive top-flight fixtures, whilst they are 38 unbeaten in the Premier League and have gone a mammoth 51 league games without defeat at Anfield, a run stretching all the way back to a 2-1 reverse to Crystal Palace almost three years ago. That is not a den that present-day United would love to go to at the moment. Liverpool is unbeaten thus far, has bullied minnows and bigger opponents through 90 minutes to victory.
Except one! Liverpool failed to beat United when the two faced off at Old Trafford on October 26, 2019. It needed a late response from Adam Lallana to cancel out Marcus Rashford’s goal.
The Merseyside club had struggled to break down a United side that deployed a back three system on home soil, though Mohamed Salah could make the difference this time around having missed their last meeting with an ankle problem.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side continue to produce inconsistent performances, mixing solid showings with inadequate displays. Three victories and two defeats from their previous five fixtures is in keeping with their season thus far, an inexperienced team often taking two steps forward and then one back.
Last weekend’s morale boosting thrashing of Norwich and a narrow 1-0 win FA Cup mid-week replay win over Wolves was much needed following poor displays against Arsenal in the Premier League and Manchester City in the Carabao Cup, results which were in contrast to the club’s previously impressive record against top-six opposition.
Already this season Manchester United have enjoyed victories over Chelsea (twice), Manchester City, Tottenham and Leicester, whilst as mentioned earlier their draw with Liverpool is the only fixture in which the Merseyside club have dropped points. The Red Devils pace in forward areas is perhaps better suited to games in which they concede the majority of possession, and hitting on the counter-attack with the likes of Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Daniel James will more than likely be their plan at Anfield.
However, Liverpool has not conceded a goal in the last six matches in all competitions.
With Kane out, Tottenham don’t have a like-for-like replacement off the bench which could see Son play the number nine role, which could be Spurs’ downfall as they don’t have much pace out wide to counter the threat of Liverpool’s full-backs who love to bomb forward up the pitch.
ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE
TODAY, JANUARY 18
Watford vs. Spurs (SS3, 3.30PM)
Man City vs. C Palace (SS3, 6PM)
Arsenal vs. Sheff United (SS5, 6PM)
Norwich vs. B’mouth (SS6, 6PM)
West Ham vs. Everton (SS8, 6PM)
Southampton vs. Wolves (SS11, 6PM)
Brighton vs. Aston Villa (SS12, 6PM)
Newcastle vs. Chelsea (SS3, 8.30PM)
TOMORROW, JANUARY 19
Burnley vs. Leicester (SS3, 5PM)
Liverpool vs. Man Utd (SS3, 7.30PM)
