Manchester United v Liverpool: Big match guide including statistics, preview, odds and more
Liverpool head to Old Trafford to face rivals Manchester United on Sunday looking to extend their 100 per cent start to the Premier League season.
Contrastingly, the Red Devils play host to the table-toppers in a poor run of form and in need of a confidence-boosting result.
Recent history is on the side of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men though. United have also enjoyed the better of the results when these sides have met across the course of the Premier League era.
Here, we put together everything you need to know for Sunday's huge clash.
The numbers
55 - this will be the 55th Premier League meetings between the old foes.
28 - Number of Manchester United wins from those games - Liverpool have won half that number with 14.
13 - Liverpool have won just once in their last 13 visits to Old Trafford, a 3-0 victory in 2014.
18 - Number of points Liverpool will be ahead of Manchester United if they win on Sunday.
1974 - Last time Manchester United were relegated from the top flight - they could find themselves in the bottom three if results go against them across this weekend.
9 - Liverpool will make it nine wins from nine if they beat United, equalling the best start to a Premier League season.
16 - Red cards in the Premier League fixtures between the two clubs.
38 - Number of combined league titles.
1991 - Last season's 0-0 draw was the first goalless stalemate between the sides at Old Trafford since a First Division clash in October 1991.
2016 - Philippe Coutinho's 45th-minute goal in a 1-1 Europa League draw on March 17, 2016 was the last time a Liverpool player scored from open play at Old Trafford.
Opta stats
- Man Utd are unbeaten in their last five home league meetings with Liverpool (W3 D2), their longest run without defeat against them at Old Trafford since a run of 10 between February 1991 and March 2000.
- Only Man City (7) and Chelsea (6) have won more Premier League away games against Manchester United than Liverpool (5).
- Four of the last six Premier League meetings between Man Utd and Liverpool have ended level (one win each) – just four of the previous 36 between the sides had been drawn.
- This is the first time Liverpool are facing Man Utd in a Premier League match while being top of the table since October 1996 – with Man Utd winning 1-0 at Old Trafford thanks to a David Beckham strike.
- In Premier League history, Man Utd have taken more penalties against Liverpool than they have vs any other side (10), while it’s also the most Liverpool have faced against a single opponent. Man Utd have taken 145 penalties overall in the division to 69 faced, the biggest such difference in the competition (76).
- Liverpool are one win away from equalling the all-time English top-flight record of 18 consecutive victories, set by Manchester City between August and December 2017.
- Since beating Chelsea 4-0 on the opening weekend, Manchester United have failed to score more than once in any of their last 10 games in all competitions. It’s their longest run of failing to score more than once since a run of 13 between May - September 2007.
- Manchester United have already lost one home league game this season – the last time they lost as many as two of their opening five home games from the start of a campaign was in 1990-91.
- In his Liverpool career, Jürgen Klopp has managed more away games against Manchester United without victory than he has any other side in all competitions (D3 L1).
- Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah has failed to score or assist a single goal in his four Premier League appearances against Man Utd – they’re the only side he’s faced more than once while failing to register a single goal involvement.
- Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold has created eight goalscoring opportunities for Roberto Firmino in the Premier League so far this season – no player has provided more for a specific teammate coming into this matchday.
- 33% of Marcus Rashford’s Premier League goals have come against ‘big six’ opponents (10/30). The Man Utd forward averages a goal every 208 minutes against such opposition, compared to one every 266 minutes against other sides.
Liverpool odds-on for victory (via Sky Bet)
- Manchester United to win - 4/1
- Match to be a draw - 29/10
- Liverpool to win - 4/6
- Virgil van Dijk to score a header - 12/1
- Trent Alexander-Arnold to score from outside the penalty area - 16/1
- Marcus Rashford to score and Manchester Utd to win - 8/1
What we're saying: Liverpool will enjoy their afternoon. United's injury problems have massively affected an already weak squad, and the visitors will see plenty of opportunities on goal, so take the 12/5 on Trent Alexander-Arnold to have one or more shots on target.
The full-back has registered a shot in five of Liverpool's eight games so far this season. He had three in their 3-1 home victory over Arsenal, while also trying his luck in their away game at Chelsea, scoring with a fabulous free-kick striking the net.
Best bet: Trent Alexander-Arnold to have 1+ shots on target at 12/5
Klopp blocking out the noise
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has brushed aside the "circus" which currently surrounds the club while dismissing any mind games being played by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
The Premier League restarts after the international break with the Reds, top by eight points, heading to 12th-placed Manchester United - 15 points behind - on Sunday.
It is arguably the biggest fixture in the football calendar between England's two most successful clubs but with Liverpool having started the season so well and United so poorly, the two extremes of hyperbole have been ramped up.
"This game is so easy - not the game against United but the game around it everyone else plays," said Klopp.
"When (pundits) make a combined line-up and you have 11 players from Liverpool it is like a joke, it is like building a banana skin.
"That's what everyone wants to see. The world at the moment is a circus with us at the centre. I am not influenced by it."
Solskjaer has a number of injuries but with key players David De Gea and Paul Pogba having seemingly been ruled out of the fixture on Thursday the under-pressure United boss changed his stance 24 hours later.
Klopp, however, is not falling for it.
"I am 100 per cent aware of the strength of Manchester United, I expect their best possible line-up," he added.
"I think Ole said 'No chance for De Gea and Pogba'. Today it is 'Maybe' and tomorrow it is '100 per cent'.
"That's how all these games are played. No problem with that but I am old enough, I am experienced enough, to judge these things in the right way.
"The less the opposing manager knows about your line-up the better it is, so that's an advantage. I am four years in England and it is still strange how little you know about whether a player is fit or not - in Germany we allow the press four or five times a week to watch training so you cannot hide anything."
Solskjaer also suggested the visit of Liverpool was the ideal game for his side to kick-start their floundering season.
United would take great delight in denying their arch-rivals the chance to equal Manchester City's record of 18 successive Premier League victories.
Klopp, however, took issue with that.
"They said that we are the perfect opponent - I don't think there are a lot of teams who would love to play us at the moment, it looks like Man United are the only team who does," he added.
"We have to make sure that is a misunderstanding. They have a really good football team there in a situation they don't like so they want to change it.
"We have to make sure if they want to change it they have to start a week later."
Woodward backing Solskjaer
Ed Woodward hit back at the critics of Manchester United's recruitment system as the executive vice-chairman reiterated his backing of under-fire manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with Sunday's clash against Liverpool looming large.
Injuries have exposed a lack of squad depth at United, yet Woodward underlined his belief that the club are on the right track in a recent address to staff at Old Trafford.
"The middle section of last season, after Ole's arrival, feels most relevant to what we want to achieve and where we want to be," the executive vice-chairman said, having publicly pledged his faith in Solskjaer three weeks ago.
"We saw a team playing fast, fluid football, with a clear representation of the style and philosophy the manager wants.
"Ole has also instilled the discipline back into an environment where we may have lacked it in recent years.
"He is building a squad that respects the club's history, in which players work hard and respect their team-mates. No-one is bigger than the club.
"The changes we saw over the summer have resulted in a very young squad.
"But it's also a squad, with the players and the culture, that provides a base camp for us to build and grow from as we start our new journey."
Liverpool's remarkable winning run
Liverpool return from the international break looking to equal Manchester City's record of 18 consecutive Premier League wins.
Jurgen Klopp's side secured a late win over Leicester at Anfield last time to make it 17 on the bounce and they have City's record in their sights.
Pep Guardiola's side won an impressive 18 times in a row in the first half of their 2017/18 title-winning campaign, where they reached an incredible 100 points.
Three points at Old Trafford would mean Liverpool equal that record, with their league-winning run stretching back to March, while their unbeaten streak currently stands at 25 games.
If they beat United and equal City's achievement, they can then set a new best of 19 when they travel to Tottenham the following week.
Test your knowledge
Just how much do you know about the Manchester United and Liverpool rivalry?
Can you recall the key moments, the best results and the iconic moments when these two have met during the Premier League era?
To prepare you for this huge clash, our quiz tests your knowledge on the history of this contest. Challenge your mates and see if you can score maximum marks!
Odds correct at 1150 BST (18/10/19)
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