A pedestrian walks past a set of murals showing Liverpool legends at the back of the redeveloped Anfield Road Stand ahead of the English Premier League football match between Liverpool and Chelsea at Anfield in Liverpool, north west England on January 21, 2023. (Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP)
Liverpool vs Man United: Benni McCarthy to get a taste of Anfield as a coach!
Man United and Benni McCarthy head to Anfield today to face Liverpool in the Premier League. The Red Devils haven’t won there since 2016.
A pedestrian walks past a set of murals showing Liverpool legends at the back of the redeveloped Anfield Road Stand ahead of the English Premier League football match between Liverpool and Chelsea at Anfield in Liverpool, north west England on January 21, 2023. (Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP)
Man United have some Anfield demons to exorcise today against Liverpool in the Premier League. How will Benni McCarthy enjoy his first visit to United’s archrivals as a coach?
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PREMIER LEAGUE PREVIEW: LIVERPOOL VS MAN UNITED
Liverpool (19) and United (20) are the two sides with the most English league titles in history. It’s always a blue-chip fixture in any Premier League season, and today’s edition should be no different.
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Liverpool have steadied the ship recently with EPL wins over Everton, Newcastle and Wolves. They also now know that if they win their two games in hand, they’ll go level on points with fourth-placed Tottenham. United are flying high after winning the EFL Cup and knocking Barcelona out of the Europa League, while they’re still legitimately in the EPL title race. In Marcus Rashford, they have one of Europe’s outstanding players right now. Much of his fine form has been chalked up to the tutelage of Benni McCarthy.
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KEY PLAYERS
Hosts Liverpool will lean on Mo Salah here. The Egyptian superstar has 10 career goals against the Red Devils, including nine in his last five meetings with them. United’s new midfield general Casemiro has prevailed in nine consecutive major finals at club level and his experience and presence will be pivotal in a fixture of this magnitude. The aforementioned Rashford has scored 18 goals for the Red Devils since 6th November and United have 53 altogether in that timeframe.
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The Red Devils have failed to score on each of their last three league visits to Anfield. They haven’t won a league match there since 2016 when Sir Alex Ferguson was in charge, and Wayne Rooney was the match-winner. Is it high-time for that to change?
Likely XIs
Liverpool
Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Van Dijk, Robertson; Bajcetic, Fabinho, Henderson; Salah, Gakpo, Núñez
Man United
De Gea; Dalot, Varane, Martínez, Shaw; Casemiro, Fred; Antony, Fernandes, Rashford; Weghorst
It’s a Super Sunday clash at Anfield in the Premier League. Kickoff is at 18:30 SA time.
Meanwhile for more insights, analysis and love for the beautiful game, hit up James Freemantle.
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