Manchester United return to Premier League action as they welcome Liverpool to Old Trafford this afternoon. Last season, Liverpool ran riot at the Theatre of Dreams and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be tasked with trying to change that this season. United came from behind against Atalanta in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday evening, scoring three second half goals to take all three points in the group stage match, which puts them at the top of their group with six points in three matches. Two more wins and avoiding a defeat in the last group stage match should be enough to put United through this season.
Liverpool sit in second place in the Premier League ahead of this match with 18 points, four more than United who sit in sixth place with 14 points. That will change before the two sides kick off at the Theatre of Dreams on Sunday afternoon. United need to find three points in the league after no winning for the past month, beating West Ham United at the London Stadium back in September. Defeats to Aston Villa and Leicester City plus a draw with Everton have seen Solskjaer’s side struggling at home and away this season, despite their bright start to the campaign. This match would be a big one to win for United and Solskjaer.
Manchester United:
De Gea;
Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Shaw;
Fred, McTominay;
Greenwood, Fernandes, Rashford;
Ronaldo
Substitutes:
Henderson; Bailly, Dalot; Pogba, Lingard, Matic, Van de Beek; Cavani, Sancho
Liverpool:
Alisson;
Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson;
Keita, Henderson, Milner;
Salah, Firmino, Jota
Substitutes:
Adrian; Gomez, Tsimikas, Matip; Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jones; Mane, Minamino, Origi
United and Liverpool have met a total of 58 times in the history of the Premier League with both teams playing in the league since it started. United have won a total of 28 times, drawing 14 times with Liverpool winning the remaining 16 matches. United have scored 79 goals, winning five penalties and scoring three of them. Liverpool have scored 67 goals, winning seven penalties and scoring five of them. United have kept 18 clean sheets with Liverpool keeping 15. United players have been shown a total of 107 yellow cards and nine red cards with Liverpool players being shown 90 yellow cards and seven red cards.
Tom Chorlton, Jackie Sheldon, Tom Miller, Fred Hopkin, Tommy Reid, Ted Savage, Allenby Chilton, Thomas McNulty, Phil Chisnal and Peter Beardsley all played for Liverpool and United before the Premier League was formed. Only Michael Owen and Paul Ince have played for United and Liverpool since the Premier League was formed. Owen won his only Premier League title playing for United, making 52 appearances, scoring 17 goals and three assists for the club. Ince made a total of 207 appearances for United, scoring 22 goals and 16 assists. Neither of the pair are considered legends for United, and rightly so.
Written by John Walker
