It remains English football’s blue-chip fixture, but Liverpool and Manchester United enter their meeting on Sunday in a bruised state.
Arne Slot’s champions are seeing their credentials questioned after a poor run of three straight defeats in all competitions (although they remain just one point off the Premier League summit), while a patchy start to the new campaign means the scrutiny on United head coach Ruben Amorim remains intense.
So how will the game be decided? We asked Liverpool writer Gregg Evans and, in the United corner, Carl Anka to dissect the big issues.
How would you sum up your team’s start to the season?
Gregg Evans: For a few weeks, Liverpool looked like a ruthless, winning machine, backed by a massive summer spend, and renewed confidence on the back of a title-winning season. But the results were papering over some crumbly performances. Signings are struggling to settle in, Mohamed Salah is short on form, and there’s been an over-reliance on late goals.
Three defeats in a row — for the first time under Slot — means Liverpool are now playing catch-up, and for the first time in a while, there’s intense pressure on performances.
Carl Anka: In a word: shaky. Amorim is yet to win back-to-back Premier League matches across 11 months and 34 games. The mood is lurching between calm and doom-mongering chaos.
Losing to Grimsby Town in the Carabao Cup led Amorim to discuss his long-term future at United, but senior executives have little appetite for sacking yet another head coach. The majority of fans and decision-makers at United want to believe in the Amorim project. Opinions are still split as to when things will eventually come good.
What issue will have preoccupied both managers during the break?
Evans: Player availability. The squad is stretched defensively, with goalkeeper Alisson expected to be out until after the November international break, and summer signing Giovanni Leoni missing the remainder of the season with an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
Late checks will be made on Ibrahima Konate and Ryan Gravenberch, as well as Wataru Endo. The team needs solidity and security, so their availability could be pivotal.
Anka: A 2-0 victory against Sunderland before the international break calmed the nerves, but there’s still a frustrating amount of footnotes and question marks to Amorim’s tactical approach. Broadly speaking, the head coach wants his side to bait the opposition onto them before launching long passes into the channels for his wing-backs or attacking midfielders to chase. Failing that, a big punt to centre-forward Benjamin Sesko gets the team going.
Amorim wants United to be punchy and pacy, but the team need an extra level of precision — in both boxes.
Ruben Amorim remains under pressure at Manchester United (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
Who is this a bigger game for?
Evans: Liverpool. Champions can’t afford to lose four games in a row, and to give up between seven and nine points over the space of a few weeks could prove costly.
Forget the rivalry for a moment and look at the match-up; this is a home game against a lower-ranked team who have already failed to beat Brentford, Fulham, Manchester City and Grimsby away from home this season, so it’s one Liverpool are expected to win.
Anka: A defeat for United would be painful, but a defeat for Liverpool would be another setback in a season that hasn’t got much room for error. Three consecutive defeats mean the “crisis club” baton lies with Liverpool.
Slot had a fantastic debut season, finding creative solutions for several tactical conundrums, and this month again sees him needing to recalibrate his side. He should, eventually, figure things out, but Amorim would love to make Slot’s mood worse on Sunday.
Which player from your club most needs to step up their level?
Evans: It’s a close call but with Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz being recent arrivals, the real pressure for improvement falls on Salah. United know only too well about his qualities — he has scored 15 goals in the last 11 games against them — but his start to this season has been slow.
He’s not seeing as much of the ball or contributing in key moments, with just two goals in seven Premier League games. You can never write him off, but the 33-year-old needs to get going.
Anka: The quick impulse is to mention Bruno Fernandes’ two shanked penalties (in the 3-1 defeat against Brentford and the 1-1 draw with Fulham) and ask the club captain to shoulder yet more of the team’s attacking burden. However, in the interest of variety, let’s discuss Mason Mount.
A player that multiple coaches have come to adore for his work out of possession, Mount still needs big game performances in a United shirt. His match-reading intelligence when defending is exceptional and he does the running of one and a half players — but can he stay fit enough to make meaningful contributions?
Mason Mount is a favourite of his coaches (Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images)
Which opposition player do you most fear?
Evans: Fernandes. If he’s fit, he’s going to cause problems.
Anka: Salah. He’s still one of the Premier League’s apex predators, capable of flicking the switch and changing the trajectory of games like few others.
One of Slot’s myriad challenges is maintaining the near-constant supply of through balls Salah received when Trent Alexander-Arnold was in the team. Salah is receiving fewer progressive passes now (11 per 90 minutes) compared to last season (13 per 90). If United can find a way to stifle Salah’s supply, they could have a puncher’s chance.
Are United still Liverpool’s biggest rivals — and vice versa?
Evans: Granted, the importance of this fixture isn’t what it used to be when both teams were fighting a top-four finish, and Liverpool would benefit more from taking points off a serious title challenger, such as Arsenal or Manchester City.
Yet this game in isolation will never lose its spice, and to be fair to United, they have remained competitive against Liverpool in recent years despite their wider struggles, so that makes it all the more interesting.
Anka: It has been far too long since the two sides have competed within the same Premier League title race, but this fixture continues to be important. A fight for dominance at the top of English football. A game that can provide thrilling performances and narrative-defining results like no other.
If these two sides ever met in April in the middle of a title race, it’d likely set broadcast records.
How do Liverpool win this game?
Evans: There are a couple of things Liverpool need to get right. First, their right-back. As Carl has pointed out, Salah is struggling a little this season because he’s missing Alexander-Arnold. Conor Bradley needs to step up and allow Dominik Szoboszlai the freedom in midfield. That would be a good platform to build on.
Second, if Gravenberch starts, Liverpool need to find a way to move him out of the build-up phase and use his ball-carrying qualities to progress forward. How effectively Slot uses his bench — this feels like a game where Wirtz could be a ‘finisher’ — could be the difference.
Ryan Gravenberch’s ball progression skills could be pivotal (Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
How do United win this game?
Anka: Start fast before Liverpool have settled, play direct into the spaces behind whichever full-backs Slot opts for and try to be cheeky when the ball gets played back to the goalkeeper.
It’s a minor tactical point, but Liverpool goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili is left-footed, while Alisson receives and passes off his right. Against Chelsea, Liverpool defenders kept passing to Mamardashvili’s weaker right foot (probably a force of habit), meaning the goalkeeper either had to take an extra beat to work the ball onto his left, or shank a long pass off his right. This is the sort of high-pressure challenge Mount relishes. Can he pick the goalkeeper’s pocket for a quick early goal?
Elsewhere, Amorim will need to ensure his 5-2-3 shape when out of possession remains compact, protecting the soft centre. The head coach made tweaks against Sunderland before the international break, bringing his attacking midfielders closer to his striker to increase central stability. He’ll likely continue this on Sunday.
What starting XIs would you pick and why?
Evans: If Konate and Gravenberch are available, then they must play.
Bradley will be relatively fresh after missing the second of Northern Ireland’s games this week through suspension, while Curtis Jones feels like a no-brainer given he’s had more time to recover since the last game.
Anka: I’d pick a 4-3-3 formation, roll with the punches, and disappear to Lisbon for the rest of my days if I lost. But if you wanted me to pick an XI to carry out the football Amorim has been drilling these boys to play, I’d have to go for…
Mount would start ahead of Matheus Cunha due to his defensive application, while Leny Yoro goes over to the left-hand side of defence instead of Luke Shaw, to make use of the Frenchman’s recovery pace and ability to pop up as the spare man in the final third. Diogo Dalot is in the team at wing-back, but will be replaced on the hour by Amad when in need of further attacking quality.
What’s your prediction?
Evans: 2-0 to Liverpool
Anka: 2-1 to Manchester United