Northern nemeses collide in Sunday's Premier League main event at Anfield, where title favourites Liverpool welcome a meek Manchester United to their Merseyside home.
Arne Slot's juggernaut hold a gargantuan 23-point advantage over their long-time rivals in the top-flight table, as the Reds continue their pursuit of stardom while Ruben Amorim's troops peer nervously over their shoulder.
Match preview
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As Arsenal, Chelsea and Nottingham Forest scrap for the best-of-the-rest badge, Liverpool are yet to suffer the dreaded dip in form that some have foreseen for Slot's crop, who ended 2024 as they mean to begin 2025 by putting five unanswered goals past West Ham United on December 29.
Luis Diaz, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Diogo Jota, Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo all made the London Stadium nets bulge to propel Liverpool to a fourth win on the spin in all tournaments, as well as prolonging their unbeaten run to a monumental 23 matches since their one and only blip thus far.
Not since Nottingham Forest's mid-September success at Anfield have Slot's men come out on the wrong end of the scoreline, a wonderful run of winter form that has left Liverpool six points better off than Arsenal at the summit, with a game in hand to boot.
Seldom failing to make their attacking forays count, Liverpool enter Sunday's game aiming to score at least two goals for the 12th Premier League game running, and each of their last three victories has seen the league leaders find the back of the net three times or more.
Defensive vulnerabilities on the road in particular did rear their ugly heads for Liverpool over the festive period, but shutting out West Ham in the capital saw Slot's team end a four-game run without a clean sheet in all competitions, and they have officially overtaken home specialists Brentford as the best-performing team in the land on their own patch.
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As Liverpool rejoice in a four-match winning sequence, their feeble foes are coincidentally conducting their post-mortem of their fourth successive defeat, having been thoroughly outwitted and outplayed by a fired-up Newcastle United on their own patch on December 30.
A nightmarish first half saw Alexander Isak and Joelinton flaunt their aerial strengths before the humiliating early substitution of Joshua Zirkzee, whose change did precede an improvement in performance levels from Amorim's side, but not enough to overturn the early deficit.
On the back of their third straight league loss at home - a fate that had not befallen them since 1979 - the words Man United and relegation are now being used in the same sentence unironically, as Amorim's strugglers are just seven points clear of the drop zone in a lowly 14th position.
Having also failed to breach Bournemouth and Wolverhampton Wanderers' nets, Man United are at risk of losing four consecutive league games without scoring for the first time in almost 116 years, and they have never been beaten in four straight top-flight games in a single season during the Premier League era.
However, breaking unwanted club records has been the theme for Man United during the Erik ten Hag and admittedly short-lived Amorim eras, although the head-to-head record does not make for as grim reading as some may think.
Indeed, Liverpool have only beaten Man United in one of their last four contests and could only draw this fixture 0-0 last season - despite having an astounding 34 shots - but that win for the Reds was a 3-0 Old Trafford trouncing in September, where Salah produced one of his customary Mancunian masterclasses.
Team News
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Liverpool's battering of West Ham was marginally marred by the hamstring injury suffered by Joe Gomez, who will be missing for a few weeks, but Slot confirmed in his pre-game press conference that Ibrahima Konate (knee) and Conor Bradley (thigh) were due to return to full training on Friday.
However, the duo will only have a maximum of two days of practice under their belts after spending over a month in the infirmary, so Slot should side with Jarell Quansah to partner Virgil van Dijk on Sunday, unless Konate can rapidly prove his fitness.
The Reds can also recall Dominik Szoboszlai to the fold after he served a one-game suspension at the London Stadium, although Curtis Jones will not cede his place easily after setting up Salah's 17th goal of the Premier League season on December 29.
Speaking of midfielders returning from suspensions, Man United duo Manuel Ugarte and Bruno Fernandes are eligible to play again after watching on helplessly against Newcastle, and Amorim should not hesitate to throw both men back into the first XI right away.
The same can be said of Kobbie Mainoo, who was a rare bright spark in the Man United team after replacing the inconsolable Zirkzee, who will surely cede his place alongside veteran midfielders Casemiro and Christian Eriksen.
Wantaway attacker Marcus Rashford is also at risk of missing out due to illness, while Mason Mount (thigh), Victor Lindelof (unspecified) and Luke Shaw (calf) continue their recoveries.
Liverpool possible starting lineup:
Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Quansah, Van Dijk, Robertson; Gravenberch, Mac Allister; Salah, Szoboszlai, Gakpo; Diaz
Manchester United possible starting lineup:
Onana; Yoro, Maguire, Martinez; Mazraoui, Mainoo, Ugarte, Dalot; Diallo, Fernandes; Hojlund
We say: Liverpool 3-0 Manchester United
Disjointed in attack, vulnerable at the back and struggling massively to adapt to the demands of an Amorim system, Man United are at risk of being completely overrun at Anfield, although expected recalls for Ugarte, Mainoo and Fernandes should mean that their display is not at pitiful as it was against Newcastle.
The Red Devils fanbase will certainly travel in fleeting hope rather than expectation, though, and we can picture Liverpool repeating their 3-0 Old Trafford trick, boosting their title hopes at the expense of their opponents' Premier League status entirely.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ben Knapton
