Key events
Some reactions to the teams: “It has been daunting being a United fan. It is not necessary to go into details. However, this starting XI gives hope,” writes Niall O'Keeffe. Meanwhile: “Larry David might suggest that, at this point, United going out and sending off enough of their own men to take a de facto 3-0 defeat might be a 'nice, nice, pretty, pretty good' idea.” “says Steven Hughes.
Additional pre-match reading: Here's Barney Ronay on the difference between the two coaches:
Liverpool and Arne Slot are a perfect point of contrast. The systemic obsessive versus the pragmatic: it is a key dichotomy in modern coaching. On the one hand, the unwavering merchant of philosophy, the evangelist of the way we play.
This has become the norm and a necessary form of managerial self-promotion. Vincent Kompany defeated Burnley in delightfully fragile style and was rewarded with one of the best positions in world football. Ange Postecoglou continues to mask his team's failings behind a kind of ideological challenge, as if there is simply too much at stake here, brother, too much art, too much love, to waste time learning to defend, adapt or find. any other gear.
Amorim is a version of this. Here was a manager who came to United announcing weeks in advance the exact tactical way his teams would play, as if with three defenders plus vigorous midfield pressing he had discovered some kind of incontrovertible truth.
Much more here:
The teams!
Here are today's teams, with Ibrahima Kounate replacing the injured Joe Gomez for Liverpool, and manchester united removing the two widely derided central midfielders from the game against Newcastle, as well as Joshua Zirkzee.
Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Konate, van Dijk, Robertson, Gravenberch, Mac Allister, Salah, Jones, Gakpo, Díaz. Substitutes: Kelleher, Endo, Núñez, Chiesa, Elliott, Jota, Tsimikas, Quansah, Bradley.
Manchester United: Onana, de Ligt, Maguire, Martínez, Mazraoui, Mainoo, Ugarte, Dalot, Diallo, Fernandes, Hojlund. Substitutes: Bayindir, Zirkzee, Malacia, Eriksen, Yoro, Garnacho, Casemiro, Antony, Collyer.
Referee: Miguel Oliver.
More pre-match reading: Here's Dominic Booth on the miserable life of the manchester united fan.
“It's very depressing and so many different things are happening at the same time,” says United supporter Si Lloyd. “The finances, the things with Ineos, Dan Ashworth leaving, the Rashford thing… I can understand why a lot of people are upset; me too. The backdrop to this negative stream of off-field stories paints a picture of a club that is in a state of complete despair. “It must be an absolute dream for people who hate United and saw us win everything in the 90s and 2000s.”
Much more here:
Pre-match reading: Here's Jonathan Wilson on Manchester United's travails:
I had always thought that couldn't happen now. It is simply not possible in modern football for a superclub to be relegated. Manchester United may have fallen in 1974, but it won't happen in 2025. Even when Ruben Amorim said United were in a relegation battle after Monday's 2-0 defeat to Newcastle, he was doing so to shock.
And that's not going to happen now. United will not be relegated. They probably only need 15 points from the second half of the season to be safe and the financial structure of modern football means there are at least three teams worse than them. However, it is significant that Amorim can mention relegation without it sounding completely absurd, revealing that it is worth doing the math, determining what kind of account might be necessary for United to survive. What has happened at United since Sir Alex Ferguson left seems like a thought experiment come true: what would it take for the most successful team in English history to go down?
Much more here:
This game got the thumbs up shortly after midday today, after two meetings of Liverpool council's safety advisory group, and despite heavy snow overnight. “It seems a bit strange that this game has been given the go-ahead, but I suppose it suits Liverpool to the core as United are in total disarray and this is the closest thing to a local banker you've ever seen in the world.” first division” writes Rick Harris.
It certainly suits Liverpoolboth for the recent performances of both teams and the impact a second rescheduled game would have on their schedule later this season, although given that there is one team in this season's league that has lost eight of its 10 away games and none of them have won. , and this match's propensity for upsets, I don't think the result is a formality (the bookies have an away win somewhere around 6/1, which (totally useless fact alert) is the same than Paul Mescal being named the next James Bond.
Hello World!
It is the first against the 14th in this year's Premier League. and also first against second in all-time English league titles. The country's two biggest clubs find themselves with one on course to win their 20th league title and the other, well, not likely to add to their own tally of 20 any time soon. manchester united They have lost their last four games in all competitions, their players still seem to have no idea what the increasingly new coach Ruben Amorim wants them to do, they are generally miserable and lack clues and luck. But still, they wear the Manchester United shirt and, as they showed at Manchester City last month, sometimes that can inspire them to do crazy things.
“In football, in a match, anything can happen,” Amorim said this week. “If we talk about the season, the best one almost always wins. Right now they are better than us but we can win any game.”
This is exciting, despite the disparity in form and quality. And also despite the fact that in four of the last eight seasons this match has ended 0-0. The other four have been won by Liverpool; In fact, Manchester United have won just 12 of the last 900 minutes (not including injury time) they have played at Anfield, and the last player to put them ahead in a game there was Wayne Rooney.
“You can see it in my face, you can compare the way I got here and now,” Amorim said about the stress of this job. “Of course, when you're (losing) there's a lot of pressure. It is difficult to face all the problems, the bad performances and the defeats, it is really hard. It's supposed to be very difficult. I think people are tired of excuses in this club. “This club needs a shock.”
Well, they've had a few of those. Will he bring another one today? Let's find out together, okay?