The biggest Premier League match of the weekend takes place on Sunday as Manchester United visit Liverpool.
It's a meeting between two teams heading in opposite directions, as Liverpool continue to soar at the top of the table while Man United have limped into the New Year and are in 14th place in the standings.
Winners of their last three league matches, Liverpool enjoy a lead atop the standings despite having played two fewer matches than the teams immediately below them, and a victory at Anfield on Sunday would add to that cushion as the Reds have been virtually unstoppable throughout this entire campaign so far.
Meanwhile, United's new manager bump is well in the rear-view mirror as the Red Devils have lost four of their last five league matches, including the last three in a row.
Liverpool vs. Manchester United: Head-to-head and recent statistics
- All-time meetings: 243
- Liverpool wins: 82
- Draws: 70
- Manchester United wins: 91
Manchester United hold the advantage in all-time meetings, with 91 wins in 243 matches.
However, recent history has favoured Liverpool, who have lost just one of the last 13 Premier League matches between the sides.
Liverpool vs. Manchester United: Team news
Liverpool
- Injured: Konate, Bradley, Gomez
- Suspended: None
Manchester United
- Injured: Shaw, Mount, Lindelof, Rashford
- Suspended: None
Liverpool vs. Manchester United: What the managers are saying
Arne Slot, Liverpool
(via LiverpoolFC.com)
"For me, I said it before the first fixture and I can say it one more time, they have much better players, in my opinion, than maybe the league table shows at the moment. It's maybe going to take a while for Ruben Amorim to bring this out of the players, I don't know, but they will definitely go up and they are much, much, much better than the league shows at the moment."
Ruben Amorim, Manchester United
(via ManUtd.com)
“In football, [in] one game, anything can happen. If you talk about the season, then, almost every time, the best win. In the moment, they are better than us but we can win any game. We have to focus not on the context but on the performance. What we have to do is simple things and I think we have to improve the simple things to play these kind of games. We have the responsibility to play to win the game.”
Liverpool vs. Manchester United: Prediction
United will look better in this match than they have in weeks, but the strength of this Liverpool side will still prove too much.
Prediction: Liverpool 3-1 Manchester United