By Patrick Pierce
Liverpool FC aims to maintain their 100% start to the Premier League season when they take on arch-rivals Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday, October 20. The hosts have made their worst ever start to a Premier League campaign and they already trail Jurgen Klopp’s men by 15 points.
Liverpool are now truly back on their perch while Man United have slipped into a quagmire of mediocrity. Therefore, it is unsurprising to see the Reds installed as odds-on favourites to win this game. This next edition of the rivalry indicates just how far United have fallen, and just how high Liverpool have soared.
The top-rated online sportsbooks have priced Liverpool between 7/10 and 4/5 to win this game. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s struggling side are all the way out at 15/4, which is pretty shocking when you consider that they are the home team. However, it will not come as a surprise to anyone that has watched this misfiring team in recent weeks. United were woeful in losing 1-0 to Newcastle last time out. And the previous game saw them play out a drab 0-0 draw with AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League.
Their last victory was a 1-0 home triumph against unheralded Kazakh side FC Astana in UEL competition. They have won just two of eight Premier League games so far this season, and scored a mere nine goals in the process. The stats are damning, but the performances are sparking greater levels of fury and consternation among the fan base.
Solskjaer keeps promising to play fearless, exciting football and remain on the front foot yet the Red Devils have frequently been timid. Many accuse the Norwegian – whose only previous managerial experience in this division saw him relegated as Cardiff City boss – of being tactically clueless, but to be fair the raw materials that he has to work with are not optimal.
Simply put, United lack a striker. Marcus Rashford is unconvincing as a number nine, Anthony Martial is out injured and so is Mason Greenwood, a youngster untested at this level. The midfield looks uninspiring, particularly with Paul Pogba frequently injured and clearly dreaming of an exit. The defence looks tougher since Harry Maguire was signed in an £80 million deal from Leicester, but they still keep few clean sheets. They look inferior to Liverpool in every department right now.
Klopp’s men have certainly benefitted from good luck at times, but winning the opening eight games of the season is a phenomenal achievement. They won their final nine games of the 2018/19 campaign, meaning they are currently on a 17-game winning streak.
They will be fired up to extend that to 18 against their most bitterest of rivals, and if they do so tie a PL record set by Manchester City. They suffered the heartbreak of missing out on Premier League glory by a single point last season, but they are already eight points clear of defending champions Man City this time around, and they know they have to keep going full throttle in order to maintain that gap.
The attacking triumvirate of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane is on fire right now, and they should give the Red Devils all sorts of problems at the back. Liverpool’s midfield looks slightly better than United’s, but they also work harder and have a better system in place under Klopp.
Liverpool’s defence has also been magnificent, led by the colossal presence of Virgil Van Dijk, and they may have starting goalkeeper Alisson back for this game too.
Meanwhile, Solskjaer is battling to keep his job. His players are fighting for their futures. Fans will hope they display more guts and courage than they did at St James’s Park last time out. However, it may not be enough at Liverpool simply look the better team right now. They are surging with confidence, they are highly motivated and they keep finding a way to win every single game, displaying great mental fortitude to accompany their physical attributes and superior technical proficiency. It is therefore difficult to see anything other than a Liverpool win in this game.