17 December 2023 , 08:15
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Where we you on the afternoon of March 5, 2023? Some say they're still looking for a few of the Manchester United players who went into hiding on that day at Anfield.
Liverpool ran out riotous 7-0 winners in front of the Kop, and given that the Reds were in the midst of a poor season back then and Manchester United were generally looking upwards after winning the Carabao Cup, well you probably know what's coming...
The Reds now sit top of the Premier League, and on Sunday they welcome a United side reeling from their European exit in midweek and seeing pressure continually heaped on Erk ten Hag. So how will it go on Sunday afternoon? We asked the Mirror Football team for their predictions.
John Cross
This is one of my favourite fixtures of any season. It is still hard to believe that their last meeting at Anfield finished Liverpool 7 Manchester United 0. It was a real “I was there” moment. And no-one should underestimate the impact of that result on this Sunday’s game.
A freak result? Maybe. But equally, United cannot dismiss it as a one-off. United must see this as a chance for revenge, to show some pride and to play with the sort of passion and commitment which was lacking back in March. Nine months later, Liverpool have gone from being a team in transition to genuine title contenders and, despite United’s determination, I can still see only one winner.
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Liverpool are a year ahead in my mind as to where I thought they would be. This was a rebuilding job for Jurgen Klopp - and he’s done it in incredible time. Meanwhile, Erik ten Hag is under pressure again because United crashed out of Europe, they lost to Bournemouth at home last weekend and another beating would really turn up the heat.
For all those reasons, United have to turn up. It’s huge for ten Hag. But all said and done, I just cannot see a way or make a case for United to win. And that in itself is a pretty damning statement against United and the way they are heading under ten Hag. Prediction: Liverpool 3-1 Manchester United
Liverpool thrashed United 7-0 at Anfield last season (AP)Nathan Ridley
There are so many similarities between this Sunday’s match and what proved to be Jose Mourinho ’s final game in charge of United back in 2018. Although I don’t think Erik ten Hag will end up getting the boot like Mourinho did two days later, I am going for the same scoreline.
Despite the Red Devils’ last goal at Anfield coming in that aforementioned defeat, and them being without Bruno Fernandes, United have still the forwards to trouble Liverpool’s high line and test Alisson Becker on a spontaneous counter attack.
Of course, that pales in comparison to how much a threat Liverpool will pose and most fans heading to Anfield won’t be surprised to see three goals flash past Andre Onana in what will eventually prove a comfortable afternoon for Jurgen Klopp and another reality check for Ten Hag. Prediction: Liverpool 3-1 Manchester United
Liverpool ran out 3-1 winners over United in 2018 (Getty Images)Felix Keith
Manchester United were thrashed 7-0 at Anfield in March and everything is pointing towards something similar happening again on Sunday. United are in woeful form, having been played off the pitch by Bournemouth and rolled over to be knocked out of Europe by Bayern Munich. They are riddled with injuries to key players, disunited and have a centre-forward who still hasn’t scored in the Premier League.
Erik ten Hag keeps insisting that his side are playing well and results will come. But while they defended well against Bayern, their attack was completely blunt and their reinforcements off the bench offered nothing.
Liverpool were supposed to be the side in transition, but thanks to Jurgen Klopp, they have a clear playing style and have shown real resilience to continue churning out results of late. Most of their key players were given a rest in midweek and will be raring to go and batter United.
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Mohamed Salah has 10 goals in 11 league games for Liverpool against United – and nine of those have come in the last five appearances. Now he’s got the 200-goal landmark off his back, he’s primed to destroy United again. Prediction: Liverpool 4-0 Manchester United
What will the score be on Sunday? Have your say in the comments section
Darren Lewis
On the face of it, Manchester United are in real trouble. This could be even worse than the footballing slaughter we saw last season. On their last two visits to Anfield, United have lost 4-0 and 7-0.
This weekend likely it will be a huge surprise if the gulf between the two isn’t at least as wide. Everyone will be filling their fantasy team with Liverpool players this weekend. If Copenhagen can put four past Erik ten Hag’s line-up (they aren’t a team) away from Old Trafford and Galatasaray can hit three, imagine what Salah, Nunez and Diaz will do.
As for the numbers, Liverpool have been ruthless at Anfield in the Premier League this season, winning all seven of their games so far and scoring at least twice. Defensively they look back to their best with just five goals conceded in front of their own fans. They sit top of the league for a reason. They are everything United are not.
Even at full strength, Ten Hag’s players would be staring down the barrel. Throw in the injury to Harry Maguire and questions around Luke Shaw and Marcus Rashford, the lack of will to string consistent performances together and we might have to watch this one through our fingers. I’d expect Liverpool to start fast, score early and jump into the United nightmare while the water is still warm. Prediction: Liverpool 5-0 Manchester United
Salah has been in superb form this season (PA)David Anderson
Before this game, all the talk has been if Liverpool can repeat the 7-0 scoreline when the sides last met at Anfield, such is the sides’ contrasting form. This is pointless and as bad as Manchester United are, their pride means it will not be another freakish result like that day when Liverpool were fortunate to lead through Cody Gakpo ’s goal at half-time.
December is like the Grand National for Liverpool and after United, they face West Ham at home in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals and then Arsenal at Anfield on December 23, both huge games. I still expect Liverpool to win comfortably and they have turned Anfield back into a fortress this season, with 11 wins from 11 games.
United are a total mess and Erik ten Hag cannot solve their many problems. Everything about them is wrong and they leak too many goals, can’t score enough and dear knows what style of football they are supposed to be playing because nothing is obvious. Prediction: Liverpool 2-0 Manchester United
Erik ten Hag is under increasing pressure (Getty Images)Megan Feringa
Manchester United haven’t scored a goal at Anfield since 2018. Whether Sunday’s clash will put an end to that five-year barren stretch depends on how much hope one can stomach.
United have wheezed and creaked through most of this season, all without offering a convincing case that the ongoing malaise isn’t part of longstanding systemic issue. Finishing bottom of their Champions League group could – here’s that hope you’ve got to stomach – have a fire-up-the-backside effect on Erik Ten Hag and co. Or, it might just be another familiar episode of the Post-Fergie era.
Liverpool have a better chance of revelling in some catalysing effect after their Europa league loss on Thursday. Jurgen Klopp’s side sit pretty at the top of the Premier League going into Christmas. Mo Salah, off the back of his 150th Premier League goal, looks unlikely to traipse to Saudi Arabia next month to join Fabinho and Jordan Henderson. It’s all feeling very festive.
Salah broke Robbie Fowler’s record as Liverpool’s top Premier League goalscorer in the 7-0 thumping of Manchester United in March. Goal #151 feels inevitable come Sunday. Prediction: Liverpool 3-0 Manchester United
Cody Gakpo and Darwin Nunez each scored twice in the 7-0 win last season (AFP via Getty Images)Mark Jones
The more I think back to the 7-0 - an afternoon which ranks alongside any football match I've witnessed my own eyes for the sheer weirdness of it - the more I wonder how Erik ten Hag managed to emerge from it without any real question marks around his job. Surely such a result is an immediate sacking offence for any Manchester United manager?
Two such results definitely are anyway, and that's why I think Ten Hag will adopt a safety first approach at Anfield and plead for this revamped 'Liverpool 2.0' not to go for the face.
They've struggled to break down such teams at times this season, but Anfield is a fortress with a shark-infested moat around it these days after 11 home wins from 11 games in all competitions, and that will become 12. Prediction: Liverpool 2-0 Manchester United
Darren Wells
The last time we all expected Liverpool to run riot over Erik ten Hag's team, United ended up on the winning side. While we have seen a 7-0 thrashing since then as the problems facing United's manager only worsen, it suggests Sunday's match might not be as much of a free-for-all as anticipated.
That said, I do expect Liverpool to come away with all three points and I expect it will eventually be fairly comfortable. United just look like an empty shell without any sort of backbone or belief at the minute. That won't serve them well stepping into an Anfield baying for blood.
It took Bayern Munich a little time to wear United down and that may well be the case again for Liverpool. The Reds are firing at the moment but made hard work of beating a Crystal Palace team who stuck 11 men behind the ball. And with Bruno Fernandes out, at least United can count on having 11 men this time.
Liverpool have scored 11 against United in their past two home outings combined, and if they score early it could be a long afternoon for the visitors, though I'm backing Ten Hag to escape before it becomes embarrassing again. Prediction: Liverpool 3-0 Manchester United
Fraser Watson
The good news for Manchester United fans is that in their first league meeting with Liverpool in the 2022/23 season, they were reeling from two damaging defeats and yet, against the odds, beat their great rivals 2-1 to spark an upturn in form under Erik ten Hag. The bad news is that clash was at Old Trafford against their equally out of sorts visitors. Indeed, there is a greater likelihood of hell freezing over, thawing out, and then duly freezing again by 4.30pm Sunday than there is of them taking three points from Anfield.
United are right now everything that Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool are not, and that isn't a compliment. Uninspired, dysfunctional, conservative with their play, Tuesday's home defeat to Bayern Munich not only signified elimination from Europe, but a team and fan base that is seemingly lacking belief.
Add to all that a crippling injury list against a side that, for all its defensive frailties, remain rampant going forward and have again shown a knack of winning when below their best, and Sunday is shaping up to be another deflating day for the Red Devils. I don't expect United to be naive enough to lose 7-0 again, but do expect a convincing defeat. Prediction: Liverpool 3-0 Manchester United
Manchester United were knocked out of Europe by Bayern Munich (UEFA via Getty Images)Mike Walters
So Liverpool are top of the pile and Manchester United have lost 12 games already this season. That makes it another formality at Anfield, right? Maybe not another 7-0, but a good hiding, surely? Er... probably not.
Liverpool have been scraping a few points lately, from a last-gasp equaliser at Luton to a stoppage-time winner at Crystal Palace and a late, late show against Fulham. Maybe they won't leave it so late this time, but I can see United being cussed, dogged and fire-resistant in the Anfield cauldron.
Remember last year, when United had lost their two opening games against Brighton and Brentford, and they were expected to be bottom of the table after their third game of the season against Liverpool? It didn't go according to the doom-mongers' script. United deservedly won 2-1.
They are not good enough to upset the applecart this time, and Erik ten Tag's away record against the big guns is dreadful, but I expect a proper contest, not a procession. Prediction: Liverpool 2-1 Manchester United
Andy Dunn
Forget the injury and suspension issues that Erik ten Hag is having to deal with, forget the fact United have just lost twice at home and failed to score in those games, forget the fact they got stuffed by seven the last time they were at Anfield. Manchester United will not win this game simply because they rarely win this game. It will be a fluke if they do. They have beaten Liverpool only twice in the last 14 Premier League fixtures between the two teams.
When Erik ten Hag’s side won at Old Trafford against Liverpool in the early stages of last season, they had less than 30 percent possession. Expect a similar statistic on Sunday afternoon. For a long time now, United have been unable to go toe-to-toe with elite teams such as Liverpool.
Sure, their joyless counter-attacking style can produce a triumph in the odd marquee game but for it to succeed, it needs forward-thinking players to be in some sort of form. And Ten Hag does not have any forward-thinking players in any sort of form. Jurgen Klopp’s men have been winning without playing brilliantly … and that is exactly what they will do against United. Prediction: Liverpool 2-0 Manchester United
Ben Husband
After being thrashed by Bournemouth and held at arm's length by Bayern, it may be a case of damage limitation from the off for the visitors. Nobody expects United to get a result, particularly with their raft of injuries and suspensions leaving them in even worse shape than usual. So would a defeat be that damaging for Ten Hag? Probably not. But another hammering in front of the Kop could be curtains.
So expect United to sit deep and hope for the kind of smash-and-grab victory that could transform their season. But the big issue isn't the amount of players they can camp on the edge of the box, it's the ability of them.
When all is said and done, Liverpool are just a much, much better team. And that will be reflected with the most routine of Liverpool victories. Prediction: Liverpool 3-0 Manchester United
What will the score be on Sunday? Have your say in the comments section