LIVERPOOL 1-0 MANCHESTER UNITED | VAN DIJK [14]
Manchester United are without top scorer Marcus Rashford, as expected, for the trip to arch-rivals and runaway Premier League leaders Liverpool.
The England international is absent with a back injury and fellow striker Mason Greenwood is only on the bench.
Two changes from the FA Cup win over Wolves see Luke Shaw and Andreas Pereira come in for Rashford and Juan Mata – meaning United start the match with two left-backs.
Liverpool name the same starting line-up which won at Tottenham last weekend but midfielder Fabinho and defender Joel Matip are on the bench after lengthy lay-offs.
Liverpool XI: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Henderson, Wijnaldum, Salah, Firmino, Mane
Manchester United XI: De Gea, Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Shaw, Fred, Matic, James, Pereira, Williams, Martial
- Liverpool defender Virgil Van Dijk opens the scoring, towering over Harry Maguire to head home a corner
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LIVERPOOL 1-0 MANCHESTER UNITED
21: Liverpool are clicking into gear here now as Manchester United drop deeper and deeper. The switch of play is quicker and more accurate with Andrew Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold flying down the flanks.
18: Virgil van Dijk has scored eight Premier League goals for Liverpool since joining in January 2018, the most of any centre-back.
17: Nearly a second! Goodness me, Manchester United are rattled now. Harry Maguire is the wrong side of Virgil van Dijk and allows the Liverpool star a run. The Dutchman can’t quite connect with Trent Alexander-Arnold’s free-kick and the ball bobbles behind.
LIVERPOOL 1-0 MANCHESTER UNITED | VAN DIJK
14: GOAL! Manchester United may have bossed the possession statistics in the early stages but there’s only one scoreline that matters!
Liverpool make the breakthrough courtesy of Virgil van Dijk, who towers above Harry Maguire to head home Trent Alexander-Arnold’s corner from the right.
13: The Ox showing some insane ambition when attempting a 30-yard volley. I’d have done the same and regularly do at five-a-side with woeful consequences.
11: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side with 58 per cent possession in these opening stages. Quite a surprise given Liverpool’s dominance at Anfield this season. Harry Maguire and Co. have been quite comfortable bringing the ball out from the back.
10: Booked! Nemanja Matic is shown the first yellow card of the afternoon for a high boot, which nearly landed plum in the face of Georginio Wijnaldum. Just the 80 minutes to last without a clumsy challenge for the Serbian…
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8: Liverpool win their first corner of the afternoon but Victor Lindelof clears the delivery from Trent Alexander-Arnold at the near post. A real feisty atmosphere inside Anfield here – United’s away support giving as good as they’re getting.
5: Nice start from the visitors, who have already carved out a could of decent chances. Nemanja Matic rolls back the years with a cracking diagonal ball out wide to Daniel James. The winger drives forward but his final ball is abysmal and Joe Gomez clears. Should have done better.
2: It looks like the Manchester United shape is fluid. Yes, I hate that term but I don’t know what else to call it. In possession, Brandon Williams acting as a left-sided winger. Out of possession, Luke Shaw slots in alongside Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof to form a back three. Have already seen Maguire tell Shaw where to be.
LIVERPOOL 0-0 MANCHESTER UNITED
1: Y’all ready? We’re underway at Anfield. I stopped giving predictions because I hadn’t called one right since the summer of ’06 but I can’t see anything other than a Liverpool win here today. I’ll go for 2-0.
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100% serious
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp on Sky Sports: “In the past it was easier to play this kind of game. The supporters want to see you fighting like crazy. A lot of good players got sent off in this game. But it’s about winning the game.
“Our fans know we take each game 100% serious. 100% is the limit so how can it be more serious today? In the last game (against United) I didn’t see us and I want to see us for 90 minutes.”
Be brave – Solskjaer
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer told Sky Sports: ”We have a chance to cause Liverpool some trouble with the players we’ve got…you’ve got to defend well but you can’t just sit back so we need courage, bravery and to make the pitch as big as we can”.
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Twitter reaction
Arun: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s prematch interview… he’s got the body language and facial expression of a person getting ready to have colonoscopy.
Bob: Think David De Gea will have to practice taking at least a minute with each goal kick today. Also 30 seconds per throw in.
Ar: As a Liverpool fan, this one fixture always brings a tingle down the spine. Form and squad strength are irrelevant when these two giants meet. Anything can happen.
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The pundits…
A fantastically frosty atmosphere in the Sky Sports studio this afternoon. Graeme Souness and Roy Keane are busy taking chunks out of each other with some wonderful passive-aggressive digs. Patrice Evra is also there but acting as more of a chaperone for his angry parents.
Souness said: ”The danger today is that Manchester United are on the wrong end of a 4-0 or 5-0. Which is possible because they are playing a Liverpool team which will fancy themselves to score more than one or two against whoever they are playing.”
Keane also said that it is not a good sign for his former club that a relatively new player has been given the captaincy.
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Bruno Fernandes – the latest
Bored of the Bruno Fernandes saga? Hope not, because we’ve got another two weeks of ‘will he won’t he’ to look forward to.
So from our understanding, Fernandes has agreed personal terms with Manchester United – leaving the two clubs to agree a fee.
Portuguese newspaper O Jogo claim Sporting want £51million up front with a further £9million to be paid in performance-related bonuses.
However, the Red Devils don’t want to overpay for the 25-year-old and believe their bid of £42.5m plus £8.5m in add-ons is a fair offer.
If I were Ed Woodward, I’d stump up the extra cash to avoid taking more pelters…
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Enemies
Jurgen Klopp believes Liverpool have more enemies than other clubs. I find this interview more amusing when imagining David Attenborough’s narrating…
“Liverpool is obviously the natural enemy of some clubs; we have more natural enemies than other clubs have, probably because of our history and how successful the club was,” he said.
“When we play United it’s the most important game of the year. When we play Everton it’s the most important game of the year.
“Now City is becoming more and more this kind of ‘football enemy’. But last year, second-last matchday, we played Newcastle. I have no clue if there were any problems between Liverpool and Newcastle in the past but it felt like they not only wanted to win the game but to stop us being champions.
“The game was so intense it was incredible. Newcastle weren’t playing for anything really, so that’s special. You feel sometimes that when we go somewhere. I don’t think we gained any new enemies, but we have enough to be honest!”
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Twitter reaction
Abdul: Juan Mata and Mason Greenwood should be starting today based on recent form but Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is starting Luke Shaw and Andreas Pereira. Well let’s just sit and watch.
Chris: Luke Shaw can’t defend and is probably better going forward so makes sense he is a makeshift winger. He can’t cross either so expect plenty of cut backs to Fred!
Dominic: Could you imagine if we had any other manager besides Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Talking about how we have to try be like Manchester City and Liverpool. Then going to Anfield and we play with SIX defensive players and playing for a draw. Wow a pathetic manager – sooner the better he’s sacked. Watch us lose 4-0.
Atmosphere…
You seen these pictures? Thousands of Liverpool supporters lined the streets as the team bus arrived at Anfield earlier.
Not quite the same scenes Manchester City arrived to a few years back – but still enough to get the blood pumping I assure you.
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Key battles
Updates from our reporter Jack Otway, at Anfield
It would have been great to see Marcus Rashford vs Virgil van Dijk but we’ll have to settle for it being Anthony Martial vs Virgil van Dijk instead.
The France international often struggles for consistency but has a habit of scoring when the pressure’s on.
So he needs to make his mark today, particularly with Mason Greenwood left on the bench.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has clearly opted against trying to fight fire with fire. It’s a very defensive-looking side.
Luke Shaw and Brandon Williams definitely suggests safety first…
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“Out for weeks”
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has confirmed Manchester United fears that Marcus Rashford will be sidelined for a while.
In his post-match interview, Solskjaer told Sky Sports that the England international will be out “for weeks” with a back injury.
That’s likely to see him out for upcoming games against Burnley, Tranmere or Watford, Manchester City and Wolves. Big loss.
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Team news – Liverpool
Now this is a much easier side to predict. Liverpool are unchanged from the side that won 1-0 at Tottenham last week.
Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane all start in attack with Takumi Minamino, Joel Matip and Fabinho among the substitutes.
Team news – Manchester United
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with a bold team selection that includes both Luke Shaw and Brandon Williams.
It certainly looks like he’s lining up with a back three and Shaw playing as a left-sided centre-back alongside Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof.
I think It’s a 3-4-1-2 with split strikers Daniel James and Anthony Martial leading the attack.
As expected, United are without top scorer Marcus Rashford after he picked up an injury in the FA Cup win against Wolves. Mason Greenwood and Juan Mata are among the substitutes.
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The starting XI
The headline news is that Marcus Rashford isn’t fit for today’s game. He’s out of the match day squad completely.
Liverpool XI: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Henderson, Wijnaldum, Salah, Firmino, Mane.
Subs: Adrian, Fabinho, Minamino, Lallana, Origi, Matip, Jones.
Manchester United XI: De Gea, Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Shaw, Fred, Matic, James, Pereira, Williams, Martial.
Subs: Romero, Bailly, Jones, Mata, Lingard, Dalot, Greenwood.
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Beef. Tender beef.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has dismissed Jurgen Klopp’s criticism of Manchester United’s playing style.
Klopp accused United of negative tactics after the 1-1 draw at Old Trafford in October and Solskjaer said he would take his rival’s evident displeasure as a positive sign.
“I take it as a compliment that we defended so well and they’ve not really created chances against us,” Solskjaer said.
“When the opposition manager is frustrated, that is a good sign for you that our boys have done well. We’ve played them at Old Trafford twice and been closest to winning both games.”
That’s Ole Gunnar Solskjaer spinning another obvious negative into a positive. He’s got a remarkable knack of doing that.
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Rash decision…
If Manchester United are to spring a surprise and become the first team to win at Anfield since April 2017, they will almost certainly need Marcus Rashford to be fit and firing on all cylinders.
However, the England international was forced off injured just 16 minutes after coming on as a substitute in Wednesday’s 1-0 FA Cup fourth-round replay win over Wolves.
United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer admitted the move backfired, with Rashford now a doubt having aggravated a back problem.
He didn’t stay with the Manchester United squad at the Lowry Hotel before the side’s crunch clash and there are actually fears he could be sidelined for a while…
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Afternoon…
Hello folks and welcome to our LIVE coverage of Liverpool vs Manchester United.
One of the biggest fixtures in football takes place today. Two star-studded teams slugging it out for the points in front of thousands of spectators and millions around the world.
And after Burnley vs Leicester we’ll head to Anfield…
Well that was my attempt at a joke and now you know why I don’t often tell them.
Liverpool can continue their march to their first Premier League title by seeing off arch-rivals United at Anfield today.
After years of seeing their near-neighbours enjoy unparalleled success in the competition, to mark their current dominance with an impressive win over the Red Devils would be another memorable afternoon for Jurgen Klopp and his side.
United have some comfort, they remain the only team to take any points off Liverpool from their 21 games this season after a strong showing in the 1-1 draw at Old Trafford in October.
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LIVERPOOL vs MANCHESTER UNITED
Liverpool midfielder Fabinho (ankle) and defender Joel Matip (knee) return to the squad after lengthy absences.
Defender Dejan Lovren (hamstring) is set to return on Monday but no comeback date has yet been set for midfielders James Milner (hamstring) and Naby Keita (groin).
Marcus Rashford is unlikely to feature for United after aggravating a back injury in the FA Cup replay win over Wolves.
Luke Shaw (hamstring) is a doubt and Eric Bailly is unlikely to be risked, while Paul Pogba, Marcos Rojo, Scott McTominay are all still out.
Last season: Man Utd 0 Liverpool 0, Liverpool 3 Man Utd 1
Top scorers (all competitions): Sadio Mane (Liverpool) 15; Marcus Rashford (Man Utd) 19
Referee: Craig Pawson (South Yorkshire)
