Toothless up front, porous at the back and with a worrying injury list, Erik ten Hag’s struggling Manchester United will travel to Liverpool for Sunday’s marquee clash full of trepidation.
United were dumped out of Europe this week by Bayern Munich and have lost 12 of their 24 games in all competitions this season. Also playing on their mind would be the mauling they received last season when they had to leave Anfield with their tails between their legs after a 7-0 drubbing in March.
That United are sixth in the Premier League standings is less because of their own performances and more owing to the inconsistency of the teams around them. They are six points behind Tottenham Hotspur and seven behind fourth-placed Manchester City.
United’s recent record against Liverpool is pathetic — they have lost four of the past five meetings, conceding 21 goals in the process. The 2-1 win at Old Trafford in August last year was an exception.
Liverpool, by contrast, are top of the Premier League and bubbling with confidence. Juergen Klopp’s side are everything that United are not — sharp in front of goal, full of self-belief and like United’s Alex Ferguson years, armed with a we-won’t go down attitude that has helped them win 18 points from losing positions this season.
Ten Hag has urged his side to focus on finishing in the top four to qualify for the Champions League next season but if results do not go their way this weekend, they could be nine points off fourth spot and slipping out of the picture.
Liverpool missed out on a Champions League spot last season but appear determined to make amends for the 2023-24 campaign. Klopp’s side, sitting pretty with 37 points from 16 matches, has the second-best attack (36 goals scored, City have 38) and the joint-best defence (15 goals conceded, the same as Arsenal, who play earlier on Sunday) in the league. They are on a run of four wins and one draw in the last five domestic matches.
Liverpool did lose their last group stage match in the Europa League, a 2-1 defeat to Belgium’s Royale Union Saint-Gilloise on Thursday, but Klopp, knowing they had already qualified for the knockout stages as group toppers, fielded a young squad to rest his tiring seniors such as Mohamed Salah, Luis Diaz, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander. More so, because of the long injury list that includes Joel Matip, Diogo Jota, Alexis Mac Allister and Andy Robertson.
United too have their own injury worries with Amad Diallo, Christian Eriksen, Lisandro Martinez, Casemiro and Tyrell Malacia all out of consideration and Jadon Sancho suspended by the club. Also, Ten Hag’s men have the second-worst goal difference (-3) among the top half of the table, scoring 18 goals and conceding 21. Only West
Ham United have a worse goal difference of -4.
Also, United had a gruelling match against Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Tuesday. The Red Devils, who lost 1-0 at home, could not afford any rotations, so they will be the more exhausted team on Sunday.
Ten Hag though does not fear for his job, even if United were to lose at Liverpool.
The manager said he has been told that he has the club’s support.
“I feel that and they tell that,” Ten Hag was quoted as saying by London’s The Daily Telegraph when asked what made him confident that he has the backing of the club’s hierarchy.
“So that’s fine, that’s OK but I’m focusing on the process, I’m focusing on making this team play better, I’m focusing on making the individuals better. That’s my concern. That’s all I’m doing — focusing on the right thing and that is the team.
“There is no concern because I’m here to win and I have to make the team play better. If you play good, even then good is not good enough. We are inconsistent so I have to work on the team playing for longer periods on a higher level.”
Ten Hag said Harry Maguire would be missing “for the coming games” after limping off in Tuesday’s 1-0 defeat by Bayern with a groin injury, but the manager does not expect the England defender to be facing a long lay-off.
Luke Shaw is expected to be available after training on Friday, despite being substituted against Bayern with a tight hamstring, while striker Marcus Rashford is back after illness.
Ten Hag believes his players must use the memory of last season’s drubbing at Anfield as motivation — rather than allow themselves to be psychologically scarred by it.
“I think everyone knows and everyone is highly motivated when you got to Anfield, it’s a great place to go,” he said. “You know it’s going be tough and what every top footballer wants is to have that challenge, so you have to look forward. Last year, of course, we take that in our memory, but you have to also take the benefit from it and learn from it and Sunday we can prove that.”
