Another edition of the northwest England rivalry kicks off Saturday, as Liverpool travel to Old Trafford to tangle with Manchester United. The Red Devils are currently in second place, with 62 points and a +34 goal differential on the season. Liverpool are right behind them in third, having accrued 60 points and a +35 goal differential for the campaign.
The all time series has seen 87 United wins, 75 Liverpool victories and 65 draws. Who will United manager Jose Mourinho select in his quest to obtain the Red Devils’ 88th triumph in the arch-rivalry? Our prediction is below.
One key to this match is Alexis Sanchez, as he finally needs to get going since his January switch from Arsenal. Thus far, he hasn’t been much of a factor, and the Chilean’s swap deal for Henrikh Mkhitaryan hasn’t really worked out for either party as of yet.
Man United Starting XI Prediction (4-3-3 formation):
Goalkeeper- David de Gea
Defenders- Antonio Valencia, Chris Smalling, Eric Bailly, Luke Shaw
Midfielders- Juan Mata, Nemanja Matic, Paul Pogba
Attack- Jesse Lingard, Romelu Lukaku, Alexis Sanchez
Liverpool Starting XI Prediction: go to this link
Jose Mourinho and Jurgen Klopp Press Conference Videos: coming Friday
Injury Report: go to this link
Odds via OddsChecker: Man United 19/11, Draw 22/9, Liverpool 9/5
Prediction: Man United 1, Liverpool 1
As always, feel free to post to your own United and/or Liverpool starting XI predictions, as well as your score predictions, in the comments section below
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
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