Liverpool will travel down the M62 on Sunday to face their greatest rivals for the first time this season – Manchester United.
Liverpool are coming into the game unbeaten so far this season but with several shaky moments on record.
Matches against Brentford and Atletico Madrid have underlined the defensive frailties that Liverpool have when their midfield is ineffective.
Yet, they remain one of the early title-chasers and will aim to be in a similar situation by the end of the season, making games like this extremely important.
Manchester United have had a rough time in the Premier League in the last few weeks with two losses and a draw in their last three games.
However, their last game is a morale-boosting comeback win over Atalanta in the UEFA Champions League and the team will hope to continue on from that.
Liverpool will be the toughest opponent they have faced all season and, with poor results against worse teams in recent memory, could be an uphill battle for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and the squad.
Alisson and Fabinho will be available for the match after missing last week’s 5-0 win over Watford.
The pair played against Atletico Madrid after quarantining in Spain so that they could play in the match.
The game is likely to come too soon for Thiago Alcantara, though – the Spain international continues to recover from a calf injury.
The Spaniard has missed six games since picking up an injury and is set to miss a seventh this weekend but Klopp is hopeful that Curtis Jones can return.
Both Marcus Rashford and Fred appeared to sustain knocks during United’s game with Atalanta.
Raphael Varane continues to be sidelined after hurting his groin while with France but his international colleague Anthony Martial has been back in training this week and looks to be pushing for inclusion in the matchday squad.
Amad Diallo is edging closer to fitness but Ole has revealed he expects the Ivory Coast to get an Under-23s outing before being considered for the first team again.
Teams
Manchester United – Probable: De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Maguire, Lindelof, Shaw; McTominay, Pogba; Rashford, Fernandes, Greenwood; Ronaldo.
Liverpool – Probable: Alisson; Trent, Matip, Van Dijk, Robertson; Fabinho, Henderson, Oxlade-Chamberlain; Salah, Firmino, Mané.
Odds
Manchester United 2/1
Draw 5/2
Liverpool 6/5
Where To Watch
The match will kick-off at 4:30 pm and will be available to watch on Sky Sports Football and Sky Sports Main Event as part of Super Sunday.
