Kick-off: 1630, 24/10/2021
Stadium: Old Trafford
TV: Sky Sports
Both of these teams recorded 3-2 wins in the Champions League in midweek but Liverpool have more reason to feel confident heading into Sunday’s crunch clash.
Their victory against Atletico Madrid continued their unbeaten start to the season and maintained their incredible streak of scoring at least three goals in every away game.
United were much less convincing as they came from 2-0 down to beat Atalanta and an away win at 5/4 is our opening Man Utd vs Liverpool prediction.
A Look At Manchester United’s Betting Odds
United were on course to suffer a fifth defeat in eight matches on Wednesday when Mario Pasalic and Merih Demiral capitalised on poor United defending to put Atalanta in control, with some of the Old Trafford faithful booing their players at half-time.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side at least displayed their spirit and camaraderie by storming back and netting three in the second period, with Marcus Rashford and Harry Maguire scoring before Cristiano Ronaldo headed home a late winner.
Having lost 4-2 at Leicester last weekend, it was another worrying display at times and former United midfielder Paul Scholes fears the worst this weekend.
He told BT Sport: “Ole said before the game it was 4-2-4. I don’t care who those two players in the midfield (are), when you are playing against a good European team, you are going to get absolutely destroyed.
“Neither wide player is running back, Bruno Fernandes is making the odd effort to get back in and help them, but they will get destroyed.
“If Manchester United were playing a really good team, we could be looking at four or five.
“The first half really worried me. I looked at that thinking about Liverpool on Sunday – thinking about Manchester City.
“In that first half United were all over the place and disjointed. Do that against Liverpool or Manchester City and it’s three or four nil at half-time and you are out of the game, there’s no coming back.”
The visitors have the joint-best first-half record in the Premier League this season and have been leading at the break in five of their eight matches.
Looking at the Man Utd vs Liverpool odds, we like 13/5 for the Reds to be leading at both half-time and full-time.
Last Man Utd line-up: De Gea, Lindelof, Maguire, Shaw, Wan-Bissaka, Fred, Fernandes, McTominay, Ronaldo, Rashford, Greenwood.
United have injury doubts over Fernandes, Fred and Rashford after they sustained knocks against Atalanta.
Anthony Martial has built up his fitness after returning unfit from international duty with France and is available but Raphael Varane remains absent with a groin injury.
A Look At Liverpool’s Betting Odds
Victory in the Spanish capital on Tuesday not only gave Liverpool a five-point lead in their Champions League group but extended their unbeaten run to 21 matches in all competitions, their longest sequence without defeat since a run of 24 from January to May 1989.
Mo Salah’s two goals took him to 31 in the Champions League for the club, passing Steven Gerrard’s record to become the Reds’ leading scorer in Europe’s premier competition.
By taking his tally to 12 in 11 matches the Egypt international also set another record, becoming the first Liverpool player to score in nine consecutive matches.
There would be no better time to reach double figures than by scoring against United and it is a brave punter that backs him not to do so.
For the last of our Man Utd vs Liverpool betting tips, we fancy 5/1 for Salah to score first in an away win.
Last Liverpool line-up: Alisson, Van Dijk, Robertson, Matip, Alexander-Arnold, Milner, Keita, Henderson, Firmino, Mane, Salah.
Curtis Jones should be back in contention for Liverpool but Thiago Alcantara will remain on the sidelines.
Jones missed last weekend’s game against Watford and the Champions League clash with Atletico Madrid with an injury sustained on England Under-21 duty. He took part in light training in midweek and the 20-year-old has continued to build-up his fitness.
Thiago continues to nurse the calf problem that has kept him out for the past month and he may not be fit until after the next international break in November.
Additional stats
Last result:
MAN UTD 3-2 Atalanta – Marcus Rashford, Harry Maguire, Cristiano Ronaldo
Atletico Madrid 2-3 LIVERPOOL – Mo Salah (2, inc 1 pen), Naby Keita
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