Manchester United target title disruption as Liverpool visit Old Trafford

Manchester United hope to throw a spanner in Liverpool’s title ambitions when they host Jurgen Klopp’s side on Sunday.

The Red Devils are fourteen points adrift of the Premier League summit but could have a defining say in whether the title heads to Merseyside or remains with United’s fierce rivals Manchester City.

Solskjaer’s side remain unbeaten in the league since the Norwegian took the job on a interim basis until the end of the season. That’s an impressive nine league games. They have scored 23 goals in the process, eight of those were wins with the only draw coming in United’s final game of 2018, a tough battle with Sean Dyche’s Burnley at Old Trafford which finished 2-2.

Liverpool and City sit level on points although the former have a game in hand over their title challengers; however, the test of United is a hurdle that Klopp must overcome to maintain his side’s attempt to win the League.

Klopp’s side are unbeaten in five games since losing 2-1 to Manchester City at the Etihad in their first game of 2019, but their title challenge has been damaged by sloppy performances at West Ham United and against Leicester City leading to draws.

Team news

Solskjaer confirmed this week that United may have Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial back from injury earlier than originally expected. Matteo Darmian, Antonio Valencia and Marcus Rojo could also all return to the squad follow minor knocks.

Liverpool’s draw with Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Tuesday was deemed too early for Dejan Lovren (hamstring) to return, but the defender could feature at Old Trafford on Sunday. Joe Gomez (ankle) and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) remain long-term absentees for Liverpool.

From the dug-outs

Looking ahead to the highly-anticipated fixture, interim manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said:

“I’m focusing on us and what we have to do to get to where we want to be. It’s a three-horse race for the title and fourth, that’s my focus…

“I played a few of these [games against Liverpool]myself and know the magnitude of it for the fans and everyone who works here.

“It’s our job to be focusing and channelling all that energy into performance mode when we start the game on Sunday.”

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp, meanwhile, admitted that he believes Solksjaer has done enough to claim the job at Old Trafford permanently.

“Can you imagine one situation when they say ‘We are bringing in another manager?’ Then a new manager will lose one game and that’s not possible.

“He deserves [the job]100% – he did everything that you have to do to be successful with them.”

Match facts

• Manchester United have a greater win ratio over Liverpool having beaten their rivals in 28 of their 54 League meetings.
• Whoever has scored first has gone on to win in six of the last ten meetings (four draws).
• United have kept sixteen clean sheets against Liverpool in the League
• Ole Gunnar-Solksjaer had a mixed record against Liverpool as a player (W5 D1 L5).
• Liverpool have not won at Old Trafford since March 2014, a run of five matches.