Manchester United welcome Liverpool to Old Trafford in a blockbuster Thursday Night Football clash between two European giants.
Victory would see Man Utd wrap up the runner-up spot in second, whereas Liverpool can go fifth with a win.
Team News
Man Utd have no fresh injury concerns after Tuesday’s 2-1 home defeat to Leicester.
Harry Maguire (ankle), Daniel James (unspecified), Phil Jones and Anthony Martial (both knee) remain absent.
Liverpool will be without James Milner after an unspecified injury kept the versatile player out of Saturday’s win over Southampton.
Ozan Kabak, Ben Davies (muscle) and Naby Keita (knock) also missed that game and remain absent alongside; Caoimhin Kelleher (abdominal), Joel Matip (ankle), Joe Gomez, Virgil Van Dijk (both knee), Jordan Henderson (adductor) and Divock Origi (muscle).
Stat Attack
- Man Utd have failed to win any of their last five league meetings against Liverpool (D3, L2).
- Liverpool have won just one of their last 11 league visits to Old Trafford (W1, D3, L7).
- No Premier League midfielder has scored more goals this season than the 16 goals produced by Utd’s Bruno Fernandes.
- Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold has produced more shots this season than any other defender, having produced 43 shots in 33 league appearances.
- Man Utd won their only previous home game refereed by Michael Oliver this season, defeating Aston Villa 2-1 at Old Trafford on New Year’s Day
Prediction
After putting in a poor performance against Leicester with just one of four shots being put on target despite ten changes, I really hope that we see a much better effort here with several regulars returning to the starting lineup.
Liverpool meanwhile just seem to relentlessly waste chances through poor composure and finishing despite often dominating, which was quite evident against Southampton on Saturday but their pressure finally paid dividends with a win and a clean sheet.
Now if Jurgen Klopp’s Reds can build on that performance and Man Utd produce a display akin to Sunday’s second-half effort at Villa, this should be an entertaining battle and I think a draw would be a fair result.
Prediction: Manchester United 1-1 Liverpool
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