Liverpool vs Manchester United Prediction, Betting Tips & Preview

Preview

Haydn Cunningham Jan 12, 2016 @ 08:34 pm

Jurgen Klopp will be desperately cursing his luck since switching from Germany to England as his short tenure at Liverpool has been decimated by injuries to key players. It is no surprise that the charismatic German has already made the most of the January transfer window with the loan signing of Steven Caulker who might not be Liverpool material but fills a gap in central defence with Martin Skrtel, Dejan Lovren and Kolo Toure all nursing injuries. Liverpool’s 2-2 draw at Exeter on Friday night insured they remained in the FA Cup and they’ll be expected to progress through to the 4^th round in the replay at Anfield. Liverpool currently occupy 8^th and will not be content on letting the Champions League places slip away from them. They sit 6 points behind 4^th placed Tottenham and aren’t particularly in a position where they can continue to throw points away especially against the sides in the bottom half.

Louis Van Gaal’s problems switched momentarily on Tuesday night at Newcastle United. With his style of play being brandished boring countless times this season, his side managed to score 3 goals with a brace from Wayne Rooney but their usually stubborn defence also let in 3 which meant they shared the points. More dropped points for Manchester United has seen them fall down to 6^th with West Ham the beneficiaries. United are now 2 points off Tottenham having played a game more and not qualifying for the Champions League is the worst case scenario with a severe cut in sponsorship investment from Adidas if they fail to cement a place in the top 4. Van Gaal looked a lot more animated with his players than his usual self and clearly demonstrated his disgust at chances wasted in the second half by Marouane Fellaini and Jesse Lingard that would’ve put them 2 goals in front but they wasted a 2-0 and 3-2 lead in the dying minutes. 

Louis Van Gaal has guided United to 3 victories out of 3 over their fierce rivals and now faces a former opponent in Jurgen Klopp where they met in the German Bundesliga. The last meeting at Anfield was sparked with controversy as Steven Gerrard was sent off just seconds after his introduction at half time that overshadowed the sensational strike from Juan Mata. Both sides have possession in the high 50’s this season and both have drawn criticism for having the ball but not being penetrative enough. This contradicts previous meetings as there has been 17 goals in the last 5 matches in all competitions.

Liverpool will be without  a number of key players ahead of the clash on Sunday. 7 players are ruled out through injury for Liverpool and a further 5 players are doubtful with Jordan Henderson, Jordan Ibe, Mamadou Sakho, Kolo Toure and Daniel Sturridge also struggling with their respective injuries. Manchester United aren’t short of problems themselves with Luke Shaw, Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo missing from defence. Antonio Valencia is out whilst Bastien Schweinsteiger is not fully fit.

Liverpool

Stats: W-8 L-6 D-6

Recent Form – WWLWD

Manchester United

Stats: W-9 L-5 D-7

Recent Form - LDWWD

Head-to-head record:

Possible Line-ups

Liverpool (4-3-3) – Mignolet, Clyne, Toure, Sakho, Moreno, Milner, Henderson, Can, Firmino, Lallana, Benteke

Manchester United (4-2-3-1) – De Gea, Darmian, Smalling, Blind, Young, Scheiderlin, Fellaini, Martial, Herrera, Mata, Rooney

Injury List/Suspended Players

Liverpool – Sturridge (inj), Skrtel (inj), Gomez (inj), Ings (inj), Origi (inj), Coutinho (inj), Lovren (inj), Rossiter (inj)

Manchester United – Carrick (inj), Rojo (inj), Shaw (inj), Jones (inj), Valencia (inj)

League Positions