Liverpool vs Manchester United Preview

Liverpool vs Manchester United

Competition – Barclays Premier League

Stadium: Anfield

Date: 5th January 2024

Kick-off time – 16:30 GMT

Premier League leaders Liverpool will look to continue their imperious form into 2025 when they welcome fierce rivals Manchester United to Anfield on Sunday.

Liverpool have been the best team in the first half of this season and look primed to begin the second half the same way they ended the first. Under Arne Slot, the Reds have lost just one of their first 18 league games, putting them six points ahead of the chasing pack.

Impressively, they have scored the most goals so far this season among Premier League clubs, with the 45 goals they have scored in 18 games, four more than any other team in England’s top flight. Eleven of those goals have come in the last two games, with Tottenham conceding six while West Ham conceded five.

As such, there is belief that Liverpool can record another big win against a Manchester United side struggling for confidence. The Reds have already scored three against the Red Devils this season, with their 3-0 win in the reverse fixture the sixth time they have scored 3+ goals against Man United in the last ten head-to-head meetings.

Apart from looking for maximum points, Slot will be chasing history as he could become just the second Liverpool manager to do the double over United in his first season matching George Kay’s achievement in 1936/37.

Meanwhile, Manchester United will be desperate to avoid another embarrassment when they make the short trip to Anfield. The Old Trafford club are at an all-time low confidence-wise.

One reason for their lack of confidence is that their last nine trips to Anfield have seen them score just once while recording zero victories (D4, L5). Their recent form only points to a continuation of this dire streak, given that they’ve lost each of their last three Premier League games’ to nil,’ leaving them languishing in the bottom half of the table.

Already in the record books for the wrong reasons, United coach Ruben Amorim is at risk of having some more harsh records against his name. Having already lost his last four games in all competitions, his side are on the verge of losing four consecutive league games in the same season for the first time since February 1979 while also potentially doing so without scoring for the first time since April 1909.

Amorim will likely have to mastermind an attacking onslaught to avoid that unwanted history becoming a reality after seeing United concede 18 goals in all competitions in December, their most in a calendar month since March 1964.

Other fixtures taking place this week in the Premier League Fixtures:

December 7, 2024
Everton 01:00 Liverpool
January 6, 2025
Wolverhampton Wanderers 21:00 Nottingham Forest
January 14, 2025
Brentford 20:30 Manchester City
West Ham United 20:30 Fulham
Chelsea 20:30 AFC Bournemouth
Nottingham Forest 21:00 Liverpool
January 15, 2025
Everton 20:30 Aston Villa
Leicester City 20:30 Crystal Palace
Newcastle United 20:30 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Arsenal 21:00 Tottenham Hotspur
January 16, 2025
Ipswich Town 20:30 Brighton & Hov…
Manchester United 21:00 Southampton
January 18, 2025
Newcastle United 13:30 AFC Bournemouth
Brentford 16:00 Liverpool
Leicester City 16:00 Fulham
West Ham United 16:00 Crystal Palace
Arsenal 18:30 Aston Villa

Premier League Table

# Team MP W D L F A G P
1 Liverpool 19 14 4 1 47 19 +28 46
2 Arsenal 20 11 7 2 39 18 +21 40
3 Nottingham Forest 19 11 4 4 26 19 +7 37
4 Chelsea 20 10 6 4 39 24 +15 36
5 Newcastle United 20 10 5 5 34 22 +12 35
6 Manchester City 20 10 4 6 36 27 +9 34
7 AFC Bournemouth 20 9 6 5 30 23 +7 33
8 Aston Villa 20 9 5 6 30 32 -2 32
9 Fulham 20 7 9 4 30 27 +3 30
10 Brighton & Hov… 20 6 10 4 30 29 +1 28
11 Brentford 20 8 3 9 38 35 +3 27
12 Tottenham Hotspur 20 7 3 10 42 30 +12 24
13 Manchester United 20 6 5 9 23 28 -5 23
14 West Ham United 20 6 5 9 24 39 -15 23
15 Crystal Palace 20 4 9 7 21 28 -7 21
16 Everton 19 3 8 8 15 25 -10 17
17 Wolverhampton Wanderers 19 4 4 11 31 42 -11 16
18 Ipswich Town 20 3 7 10 20 35 -15 16
19 Leicester City 20 3 5 12 23 44 -21 14
20 Southampton 20 1 3 16 12 44 -32 6

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