Arch Premier League rivals Liverpool and Manchester United lock horns at Anfield on Sunday afternoon at 17:30 (UK time). Liverpool have been ruthless this season, accruing the best ever points total after 21 matches, and now they are up against a Manchester United team that has been largely inconsistent this season. This is a match rich in history, and everyone will be looking forward to the two most successful teams in England serving up a great spectacle on Sunday.
From asking if Liverpool would break their 30-year wait for a Premier League trophy, the question has changed to how many matches they would need to round up the EPL trophy. There’s also the matter of going unbeaten in one season, a record currently held only by Arsenal. The Reds have now won 12 consecutive matches in the EPL fixtures, and have gone 38 games without a loss, the equivalent of a season. At Anfield, the team is even more impressive, having gone a colossal 51 home league games without defeat – a record stretching to almost three years now.
Liverpool currently enjoys a 14-point gap over Manchester City in second, and 16 points ahead of Leicester City in third. If they win their outstanding match, they could go 17 and 19 points clear of the aforementioned teams. Jurgen Klopp’s team are also on their best defensive form this season. After keeping only two clean sheets in their first fifteen matches of the season, the team has kept six consecutive clean sheets including those against Leicester and Tottenham. Liverpool will also be boosted with the return to fitness of Matip and Fabinho, as both players have now started training. While Sunday’s match may be too soon for the duo, having more quality players available will help the team joggle their commitments in the competitions they are still being challenged for.
Manchester United remain the only team to take points off Liverpool this season, thanks to a late equalizer from Adam Lallana at Old Trafford. It is never clear which United team will turn up on Sunday, due to the team’s inconsistent performance this season. That said, Solskjaer’s team have done very well against the top six this season. They have beaten Chelsea twice, beaten Guardiola’s City team at the Etihad and enjoyed victories over Leicester and Tottenham. And as the 1-1 draw against Liverpool at Old Trafford shows, they can still get something out of this match, especially if they choose to go with their effective counter-attacking pattern. It must, however, also be said that the Red Devils’ away performance in the EPL this season has been poor. They would have to do remarkably better in order to get anything out of the fortress that Anfield has become. The Manchester-based club have garnered only 12 points from 11 away matches, registering three wins and three draws, as well as five losses. In those 11 matches, they only scored 12 goals and conceded 15 goals – a negative goal difference away from home. Add to that the fact that Marcus Rashford, with nine goals since December, may miss the tie after being rushed back against Wolves in their FA Cup replay, then they really have a mountain to climb, despite consecutive wins over Wolves and Norwich on home turf.
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With Liverpool being impervious and Manchester United being largely inconsistent, it is impossible to look beyond Jurgen Klopp’s men for this match. The Red Devils have a poor away form, and face a team with a great home form. That said, the last five matches between the two sides have featured three draws and one win apiece. Liverpool will also be keen to add to their 19 consecutive wins at home, as well as get one over on their rivals. At home, Liverpool have scored 29 goals in 11 matches and conceded only 9. Added to this is Liverpool’s recent defensive record (six consecutive clean sheets and under 1.5 goals in three of the Red’s last four matches), and it’s easy to see how this may end up a low-scoring affair. Betway offers you the following odds: Under 2.5 – 2.20, Under 3.5 – 1.47. Before you create a new Betway account take a look at our Betway review and Betway app page. For more sports betting tips on the match, click here.
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