Ruben Amorim and his Manchester United outfit will make the short trip to Liverpool on Sunday, as English football’s greatest rivalry resumes Premier League duties.
For some, an Anfield outing may be a daunting prospect. However, the allure of claiming three points in the enemy’s backyard supplies the greatest adrenaline shot for the United faithful.
Amorim is aiming to secure consecutive league victories for the first time in England, while Arne Slot is hoping to halt a recent slide that has set subsections of the Kop into disarray.
Interestingly, you have to rewind to the Louis van Gaal era for the last time that the travelling contingent earned the bragging rights in Merseyside, with a 78th-minute Wayne Rooney effort silencing the home support.
It’s easy to draw on form to speculate about the potential outcome of any fixture, but recent results will count for nothing when Michael Oliver blows his whistle at 4:30pm.
Manchester United Team News
Much to the delight of a Manchester audience, a second international break of the season returned zero headaches for the former Sporting chief, with the majority of the squad in contention for a starting berth.
That said, with a plethora of mileage accumulated across the board, the manager is keeping his cards close to his chest.
“Licha [Lisandro Martinez] is not available – he is near, but he is just returning to training with the team,” Amorim stated during his pre-match press conference.
“[Noussair] Mazraoui, I don’t know. The rest of the guys, the national players, are ready, but if you saw the games, some of the players played in Japan, so we need to be careful to give more time.
“Bruno played 62 minutes, so we give him one more day. We try to balance everything to get everyone ready, but the guys who are returning from national teams are ready to play.”
The history in the North West is not lost on the Portuguese coach, with a worldwide fanbase set to kick every ball on the day.
While recognising the importance of momentum for his team, Amorim was quick to acknowledge the contrasting fortunes of both sides during different periods of their illustrious timelines.
“Sometimes things change really fast, but if you see the history of both clubs, you can feel that sometimes you have one club that is winning, winning, winning, and one club that is having a bad moment,” the 40-year-old continued.
“That happened with Liverpool when Manchester United was winning everything, and that happened with Manchester United when Liverpool was winning everything. We have to acknowledge that and be really honest with the fans.
“We can win any game, if we think about winning the next game, that is the most important thing, we can win the next game. If we are to be on the same level as Liverpool in the future, that is the idea. I don’t know how long it is going to take.”
Although there is little to split between the sides throughout the previous five meetings in all competitions (W1, L1, D3), United have managed to win just one of the last 14 Premier League encounters.
That came in 2022 when Erik ten Hag’s men enjoyed a 2-1 triumph at Old Trafford thanks to goals from Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford.
The Theatre of Dreams is beginning to reclaim some of its previous domestic dominance. Still, the Reds continue to struggle on the road, last tasting league success against Leicester in March.
Nevertheless, having seen off Sunderland in the last outing before the international break, Bruno Fernandes and Co will be travelling in high spirits. In contrast, Liverpool have suffered defeat in their three previous matches.
If there was ever a time to make a statement, we can’t help but feel that Sunday could offer a catalyst for Amorim and this heavily-critiqued squad.
Predicted Manchester United starting XI: (3-4-2-1): Lammens; Yoro, De Ligt, Shaw; Amad, Ugarte, Bruno, Dalot; Mbeumo, Mount; Sesko.
How do you feel ahead of our latest trip to Anfield? Let us know your thoughts in the comments or across our socials.
Photo by operations@newsimages.co.uk via depositphotos.com.
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