The BIGGEST game in English football and if you ask me, it's the biggest game in ALL of football.
Man Utd have been embarrassed by LFC in recent years (and how) but it is the current champions that find themselves facing the ultimate humiliation: potentially succumbing to the fact that they could be the team that ends Ruben Amorim's infamous no back-to-back league victories.
That would be embarrassing 😬.
Liverpool take on United as the two greatest and most successful sides in English football history go head-to-head in what is kind of an important clash in more ways than one.
Arne Slot and his Reds have taken a page out of United's book and done an Amorim as they have lost their last three in all competitions while with MUFC and particularly for their manager, he is only ever one game away from a crisis.
There is quite a lot at stake 👀.
However, everything goes out the window in such matches given the rich history and vast sizes of the two clubs.
Anything is possible.
I am really looking forward to this one 😁.
Predicted Lineup
So, how does Amorim get one over Slot?
Firstly, he has to pick a strong side. I don't want to see Bayindir come in for Lammens, Maguire for Yoro because of 'experience and leadership', or even a false 9 even though that has worked relatively well this season.
This is NOT the team I would go for but it's one that entails a couple of compromises.
I think we would all like to see Mainoo given a go in midfield but we know that that ain't happening. As per the recent news about Ugarte, the manager doesn't seem to rate him either. This means that it will have to be Casemiro and Bruno.
That midfield pairing is one that I feel could see us come undone.
I've gone for Amad as RWB because I do want to have something attacking down at least one flank. We know Dorgu has had his troubles in the final third but with Amad, he is perhaps Amorim's best option of turning a winger into a wing-back.
There is a strong chance he'll go with Dalot but he isn't good at anything. The ultimate professional who will give everything but Dalot is simply shite and I don't think he'll give Slot too many problems.
Amad may not be the best defensively but he will at least give LFC something to think about going the other way. Milos Kerkez might not be so daring going forward knowing the threat that Amad poses in attack. Behind the Ivorian is Yoro who can do a lot of the defensive work for him.
Up front sees Cunha benched once again. I believe that Amorim is a big fan f Mount's and if he were reliable, would be one of the favourites to start in United's best team. As he is injury prone, we've seen how careful Amorim has been with managing his minutes.
Since he is fit enough to start, I believe he will do so again and in a game like this, I don't actually mind it. While I would prefer Cunha because of his style of play, what United may require at Anfield are players who are hard workers especially off the ball as it is expected that Liverpool will have more possession. Cunha struggles in this type of game whereas Mount, not so much.
The no 7 has also played well whenever he has been on the pitch so his selection is justified.
There is that option to drop Sesko and play both Mount and Cunha but with his form (2 goals in two games) and the fact that I feel as if we're benefitting from this old school, big striker, Sesko almost has to start as well. Mbeumo has played all eight games so far starting all seven league matches which shows his importance. Similarly to Mount, the Cameroonian is also a hard grafter and could be perfect to pounce on Liverpool's incredibly high line. This is what made him the player he is whilst at Brentford.
Approach
So with that lineup in mind, here's what I think we can do to hurt Liverpool.
Lammens
Straight away, when I look at that team, I feel there's more of a confidence in Lammens than with Bayindir. Again, I just want to emphasize how Amorim CANNOT change his goalkeeper after what was such a refreshing performance against Sunderland.
There is more of a command from the Belgian, there is more security with his shot-stopping and even his distribution seems both calm but relatively accurate and with both feet.
Of course, at home to Sunderland is completely different to away at Liverpool and I've no doubt that Arne Slot will want to put this new 'keeper to the test, however, I already have that belief in him to overcome those tests compared to Bayindir who is much more experienced.
The defense will feel more reassured and the likes of Yoro, De Ligt and Shaw can focus solely on defending.
The Start
Liverpool at home really feed off of the energy from the Anfield faithful. This is one of the greatest atmoshperes in football as well as one of the harshest especially when United come to town.
This is why it's imperative that we start off well. We need to do whatever we can to keep the crowd quiet and one of the ways is in how we begin the game.
This is an area where we've been surprisingly good throughout these seven matches. It's with continuing that high-octane start that has caused us to become undone as we cannot seem to maintain that energy all through the 90 minutes and if we failed to do so again, then we are asking for trouble at Anfield.
We've already played three of the big 6 this season and in all of them, we began quite well. The victory over Chelsea came because of a strong start that led to that early red card for Robert Sanchez. At the Emptihad, United were the better side until that Phil Foden header in the 18th minute. That all too familiar issue surfaced and that was the dropping of the heads to which City took full advantage of and went on to win 3-0.
Arsenal
However, there has been one match that has been a shining light even if the result wasn't what we wanted.
That opening day loss to the Gunners was still seen as a positive as the performance from United was possibly our greatest display under Amorim.
Not only did we start off well but we managed to continue that momentum all game. Everyone played their part (other than Bayindir) as the performance showed us there was a chance that things could work under this manager and with these players.
While that match was great, we still lost and Arsenal weren't at their absolute best. They were surprisingly flat which gave us more of a chance to see the performance we did. Amorim even took off his more defensive RWB in Dalot for someone more attacking in Amad early in the second half indicating just how confident he felt about being more on the front-foot.
We even had more possession than Mikel Arteta's side (64% v 36%) as well as more attempts (22 vs 9) and more on target (7 vs 2).
I doubt we'll get the same level of quality from Liverpool which will make things harder for United to play just as they did on the opening day but at least we out in that level of performance.
Once more though, a familiar issue of not making the most of being on top was our undoing. Weaknesses from crosses, loss of concentration, not tracking runners (which could be a problem with Bruno in midfield) and just the overall concession of stupid goals is why we aren't where we want to be.
LFC's High Line
One of Liverpool's biggest weaknesses has been their ridiculously high defensive line.
Arne Slot wants his team to squeeze oppositions higher up the pitch but that has left them being caught out in transitions and counter-attacks.
United have been norotious for being a counter-attacking side in recent years but that aspect of our game has fallen off. We no longer pose such a threat when hitting on the break.
However, with the likes of Sesko and Mbeumo, I believe that threat can return.
Amorim has been using this tactic of going long and root one to his 1.95m tall striker who also has an incredible jump. Sesko has been winning a lot of flick-ons which has benefitted someone like Mbeumo. He loves to run in behind and with his relative speed, can cause Liverpool problems with that high line.
Amorim has spoken about how Amad playing out wide also helping Mbeumo play more central which can create a better link-up between him and Sesko. This is another reason to have the Ivorian as RWB instead of the Portuguese Dalot.
LFC's Right-Back
Arne Slot has also struggled to find his ideal right-back as all of Conor Bradley, new signing Jeremie Frimpong and even midfielder Domink Szoboszlai has been used in that position.
This is another area to exploit as without a settled right-back, it gives Amorim a chance to take advantage of.
Dorgu will most likely play down the left. If he is to cause Liverpool damage then he really has to sharpen his decision-making and quality in the final third. Should he do so, I see no reason as to why we cannot give our opponents are hard time.
Form
Unlike LFC, we did win our last match which was perhaps our best of the season so far. That 2-0 triumph was exactly what the doctor ordered as after that calamity at Brentford, a performance and result was what was required against Sunderland.
That 2-0 win saw a lot of things come to pass:
- Lammens started and played well
- We kept our first clean sheet
- Sesko scored two games running
- Amorim's selections, substitutions and tactics were on point
It was the perfect game 😌.
That gave the manager much-needed relief and also got us into the top half. We sit 10th with three wins, one draw and three losses and a goal difference of -2. Sunderland are the only side in the top 10 to have scored fewer than our 9 while the 11 conceded is the most in the top half.
The away record is absolutely shocking as United lie in a lowly 17th from three games. A record of zero wins, one draw and two losses has given us just 1 point on our travels. We have scored just 2 which is amongst the fewest, and conceded 7 which is amongst the most. Only Fulham and Burnley have a worse GD to our -5.
As for the big 6, the only victory we've had on the road against them came in the derby last season. The last time we had won against a big 6 team away from home before that was the 3-0 triumph at Spurs in 21/22!
An atrocious record for a club like ours 🤮.
More than this, we haven't won at Anfield since 2015 under Louis van Gaal as a late Wayne Rooney goal gave us the 1-0 win.
A decade of not winning at Liverpool 🙃.
In fact, we've only won ONE of our last 14 league encounters with our greatest rivals. One.
That was Erik ten Hag's first official win as United manager at the start of the 22/23 campaign, four seasons ago.
Since that latest victory, we've conceded 15 and scored 4 in five matches.
Fuck me man we gotta do something this weekend to change that!
This fixture last season though, was for me, the best performance we've had under Amorim. Being away from home, no one expected anything of us as there was more of a chance of United getting hammered than picking up a point or 3.
Yet we went to Anfield and delivered as we were full value for our 2-2 draw and if we were a little more careful in possession, would've gotten the 3 points late on.
Along with that Arsenal performance, these two matches can serve as blueprints for what we can do on Sunday to get a positive result.
United have also picked up two draws in their last two visits to Anfield so we've done something right recently 🤷♂️.
Liverpool
As for LFC, they really are worse than us at the moment, at least on form.
As we know, the Reds have lost all three of their last three in all comps after going six for six at the start of the season and it's because of how they began the campaign that they've allowed themselves this unwanted leeway.
LFC are second and just 1 point behind Arsenal so it's not a complete disaster. Their only two losses have come in their last two at Palace and Chelsea which are tough grounds to go to but I think the alarming thing for them despite this strong start has been the amount of goals conceded.
Before we get there, we have to take a look at those opening five league wins.
Slot's side relied on 2 late goals by Federico Chiesa and Mo Salah to secure the 4-2 win over Bournemouth on opening day; that was followed by them scoring the latest goal of the season so far (100th minute) through youngster Rio Ngumoha to beat Newcastle 3-2; a late Szoboszlai free-kick secured the 1-0 victory over Arsenal; a 95th minute winner from the spot by Salah was followed at 10-man Burnley; and their most recent win was a narrow 2-1 triumph in the Merseyside Derby.
5 of their 13 goals have been scored from the 80th minute and beyond resulting in tight wins. Even their only win of the Champions League required a late Virgil van Dijk header in the 92nd minute to beat Atletico Madrid 3-2.
Eventually, their luck ran out as Palace pulled an Uno reverse on them and narrowly defeated them via a late Eddie Nketiah 97th minute winner. That was followed by a 95th minute winner by Estevao as Chelsea also beat LFC 2-1. That was just the second time Slot lost back-to-back games as LFC manager.
Karma comes at you fast.
However, not only were those five wins narrow, Liverpool threw away two 2-goal leads against the Cherries and Newcastle. Even the win over Atleti was the same.
Have they let complacency seep in?
This means that in the league, they have let in 9 goals which is the joint-second most with Chelsea in the top 10 and compared to this stage last season, LFC have conceded 7 more.
There's been a clear decline in quality with their captain van Dijk who has become quite a meme since the Chelsea loss due to him trying to twerk his way out of trouble. More than this, Ibrahima Konate has also lost form and is a doubt for the game. With Giovanni Leoni sidelined with an ACL injury and goalkeeper Alisson out for a few weeks it leaves LFC thin at the back.
Ryan Gravenberch also has an injury worry although his is said to be not serious.
And of course, the Egyptian king Salah has been poor this season. Almost unrecognizable from last year, LFC's no 11 looks a shadow of his former self as he's only gotten 2 goals and 2 assists.
Something is clearly not right at Anfield.
On the flip side, United are one of Salah's favourite opponents. He's bagged 13 goals and 6 assists against us over the years so if there is one fixture for him (and Liverpool) to help get back on the horse, this is it.
United target Hugo Ekitike has 3 goals and is Liverpool's top scorer, Szoboszlai has been arguably their best player, a strong midfield that will probably outdo ours, and two exciting full-backs in Frimpong and Kerkez, there certainly is enough quality for them to hurt us.
At home, Liverpool have a 100% record and have scored 7 while conceding just 3. Surprisingly in 4th is United 😳.
Such a strong Anfield record can play a part as well.
Prediction
Honestly, I have a good feeling about this one. I know we've all said this about soooooo many games before but for some (stupid 😅) reason, I do believe we will go to Anfield and get a 2-2 draw, just like last season.
We have the tendency to show up in these big games and when we least expect it and I can see us doing so again.
United do have to be careful because LFC are a wounded animal. Losing three games in a row may sound good but a game like this could be exactly what they need to get their season back on track.
However, we do have to try and take advantage of their poor form.
What do you think Amorim needs to do in order to get his first back-to-back league victories? And how are you feeling in general ahead of one of the biggest games of the season? Quietly confident or shitting yourself?
Virgil van Dijk: Image via Liverpool official X (@LFC)
Bruno Fernandes: Image via Manchester United official X (@ManUtd)
Anfield: Photo by Nathan Wong on Unsplash