Liverpool vs Man Utd preview; kickoff and team news, how to follow, stream

Who: Liverpool vs Manchester United
What: English Premier League
Where: Anfield, Liverpool, United Kingdom
When: 4:30pm (16:30 GMT) connected Sunday
Follow Al Jazeera’s unrecorded substance and photograph build-up and commentary stream.

Liverpool brag Arne Slot believes struggling Manchester United are amended than their spot successful the Premier League standings suggests, and said helium does not program to remainder immoderate players erstwhile the 2 teams clash astatine Anfield.

Liverpool apical the array with 45 points and with a crippled successful manus implicit the different rubric contenders. They are six points up of second-placed Arsenal, portion United, with 5 losses successful their past six league games, are languishing 14th with 22 points.

While United are nary longer the unit they were during the Alex Ferguson era, Slot was taken aback erstwhile asked if helium plans to remainder immoderate of his cardinal players for the lucifer connected Sunday.

“No. Of people not,” Slot said. “For me, they person overmuch amended players than possibly the league array shows astatine the moment. It mightiness instrumentality a portion for (manager) Ruben Amorim to bring this retired of the players but they are overmuch amended than the league array shows.”

Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United were beaten 2-0 by Newcastle United astatine Old Trafford successful their past lucifer [Carl Recine/Getty Images]

Liverpool inactive sweating connected Alexander-Arnold, Salah and van Dijk futures

With regards to his ain players, Slot insisted that defender Trent Alexander-Arnold is focused connected his job contempt speculation linking the defender, who is retired of declaration successful the summer, with a determination to Real Madrid.

Liverpool’s talisman Mohamed Salah is besides retired of contract, on with nine skipper Virgil van Dijk, and has said a caller woody is “far away”. The Egyptian leads the league with 17 goals and combined with his 13 assists, his extremity contributions adhd up to 1 each 53 minutes.

Asked if Salah is presently the champion successful the world, Slot said it is hard to comparison players.

“If I lone look astatine my ain team, Virgil (van Dijk) besides has an outstanding play but helium doesn’t person the numbers due to the fact that helium is simply a defender,” the manager said. “The numbers Mo has talk for themselves. If you simply look astatine the numbers and the mode he’s playing, he’s decidedly a great, large player.”

Mohamed Salah said aft Liverpool’s past lucifer astatine West Ham that a caller declaration was “far away” [Richard Pelham/Getty Images]

Slot’s men, who person mislaid lone 1 crippled this season, bushed Manchester United 3-0 astatine Old Trafford successful September and United person conscionable 1 triumph implicit their rivals successful their past 13 league meetings.

Slot had benignant words for Amorim, who admitted aft their 2-0 nonaccomplishment to Newcastle United connected Monday that his squad could beryllium facing imaginable relegation.

“Every manager sympathises with each different manager,” Slot said. “We each cognize however overmuch unit this occupation brings. It is thing we like. He’s done truthful good astatine Sporting and I deliberation helium has a bully squad of players truthful helium volition yet bring the champion retired of them.”

Manchester United request “leaders” connected the tract to reverse caller run

Amorim, meantime, says Manchester United are “starving for leaders” during a turbulent period.

United volition beryllium capable to invited backmost skipper Bruno Fernandes astatine Anfield, aft helium was suspended for Monday’s dismal 2-0 decision to Newcastle, portion the nine has triggered an enactment to widen erstwhile skipper Harry Maguire’s declaration by a twelvemonth until 2026.

Defender Maguire, 31, joined the nine from Leicester successful 2019 and his woody was acceptable to expire astatine the extremity of the season.

“I spoke with him (Maguire) this greeting and I told him helium has to amended connected the pitch, we request him a lot,” Amorim said connected Friday.

“Also, helium has to amended arsenic a leader. We each cognize the concern that helium had present (losing the captaincy and falling down the pecking order) but we request him a batch successful this moment, truthful we are going to trigger, happily, the enactment for him.”

Amorim added: “When you look astatine our squad we are starving for leaders connected the pitch. He is simply a leader.”

Arsenal's triumph implicit Brentford closes the spread connected Liverpool to six points 🫴#FestiveFixtures pic.twitter.com/JAIzpRDlkG

— Premier League (@premierleague) January 1, 2025

United person mislaid 4 consecutive games and person besides been knocked retired of the League Cup successful their caller wretched run.

The 2 astir palmy clubs successful English shot past could not beryllium heading into Sunday’s lucifer successful much contrasting manner with Liverpool closing successful connected United’s grounds of 20 English top-flight titles, contempt Arsenal narrowing the spread to six points pursuing their triumph astatine Brentford connected Wednesday.

United past won astatine Anfield 9 years agone and person suffered 4-0 and 7-0 thrashings successful 2 of their past 3 visits.

Amorim, though, is hoping that immoderate uncommon clip connected the grooming transportation this week volition assistance his team.

“In football, successful 1 crippled thing tin happen,” helium said. “If you speech astir the season, past astir each clip the champion squad wins.

“In the infinitesimal they are amended than america but we tin triumph immoderate game. We person to absorption not connected the discourse but the performance. We person to amended the elemental things.

“Of course, it is simply a hard infinitesimal due to the fact that we are losing excessively galore matches and we are going to beryllium facing the champion squad of this year, but, similar I said, with training, we hole much the squad and we privation to amended the show compared to the past game.”

Amad Diallo has been United’s 1 root of optimism during a pugnacious archetypal 2 months of Amorim’s reign.

The Ivorian is adjacent to agreeing a caller semipermanent woody astatine Old Trafford according to the Portuguese coach.

Liverpool squad news

Joe Gomez faces a spell connected the sidelines aft being ruled retired for astatine slightest 2 weeks with the hamstring wounded that forced him disconnected successful the triumph against West Ham.

Conor Bradley and Ibrahima Konate have, however, some resumed grooming arsenic portion of the first-team squad to bolster the defence. Dominik Szoboszlai, meantime, returns pursuing a one-match ban.

Predicted lineup:

Alisson Becker; Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joe Gomez, Virgil van Dijk, Andy Robertson; Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister, Mohamed Salah, Curtis Jones, Cody Gakpo; Luis Díaz.

Manchester United squad news

Marcus Rashford, who has been heavily linked with a determination distant from the club, volition miss the owed to illness.

United bash invited backmost Bruno Fernandes and Manuel Ugarte from suspension. Victor Lindelof, Mason Mount and Luke Shaw are each sidelined done injury.

Predicted lineup:

Andre Onana; Lisandro Martinez, Matthijs de Ligt, Harry Maguire; Diogo Dalot, Manuel Ugarte, Kobbie Mainoo, Noussair Mazraoui; Bruno Fernandes, Amad Diallo; Rasmus Hojlund.

Head-to-head

This is the 216th gathering betwixt English football’s fiercest rivals, with Manchester United winning connected 83 occasions, portion Liverpool person emerged victorious successful 73 of the encounters.

United’s lone triumph successful the past 5 meetings came successful the FA Cup past play successful a melodramatic 4-3 triumph astatine Old Trafford.

Their past league triumph was a 2-1 location triumph successful August 2022 – their lone top-flight occurrence against the Reds successful 13 games. The past triumph astatine Anfield for United was successful March 2015, erstwhile Juan Mata netted a brace earlier Daniel Sturridge pulled 1 backmost for the location side.

Next stop: Matchweek 20 🚂 pic.twitter.com/bhpb6jbKzT

— Premier League (@premierleague) January 2, 2025