Liverpool vs Man Utd: The mood, rivalry, tactics – and our experts' predictions

It is, historically at least, the biggest match in English football.

Liverpool versus Manchester United never struggles to generate hyperbole, and today’s meeting at Anfield will be no exception, but it has seldom occurred with such a chasm between the two teams. Thirteen places currently separate the two arch-rivals, with Arne Slot’s home team peering down on their visitors from the summit of the Premier League table.

With such contrasting moods at both clubs, we asked our Liverpool writer Andy Jones and his United counterpart Carl Anka for their insights.

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What’s the mood at your club before today’s game?

Anka: Pretty grim. Save for a last-minute victory in the Manchester derby, December 2024 was a month to forget for United. Ruben Amorim’s men lost six matches and conceded 18 goals (two directly from corners), and there was mildly sincere talk of relegation battles. Amorim’s brief honeymoon period as head coach is over. There’s a growing understanding that the squad he inherited in November is way off qualifying for the Champions League, let alone competing with Liverpool for the title.

Jones: Even with the lingering contract questions over Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk, the optimism and excitement surrounding Liverpool is infectious. Top of the Premier League by five points (with two games in hand), top of the Champions League’s new 36-team league phase after six of the eight matchdays and into the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup later this week, new coach Arne Slot’s start has been the stuff of dreams.

Liverpool have put in plenty of hard work to get to this point, now it is about converting a position of strength into silverware. They have been the best and most consistent team so far this season and in Mohamed Salah they have the most in-form player in Europe, if not the world.

They have lost only once in Slot’s first 27 matches in all competitions. If the current trajectory continues, their Dutch head coach could be heading for incredible success in his first season in charge – but the pressure only builds from here.

Has the gap between these teams ever felt bigger?

Anka: I’ve reported on United full-time for The Athletic for close to five years now, and I think April 2022 at Anfield represented the largest gap. There was little-to-no doubt Jurgen Klopp’s side were going to defeat Ralf Rangnick’s under-interim-management rabble that day. The only question was whether they were going to try to score a hatful and help their goal difference against Manchester City in the title race, or try to score a bunch of goals early, then look to preserve legs for the run-in with some swift substitutions.

The worrying thing about the current state of play is there are now fewer obvious ways United can go about closing the gap to Liverpool in the next 18 months. Slot’s side may turn into a dot on the horizon while Amorim sorts out the basics.

Jones: Probably not in my lifetime – and I was born in 1998, for those wondering. The only period that bears resemblance has to be those dreadful months in 2010-11 under Roy Hodgson. The biggest similarity? Relegation being a reasonable thought for both sides. The difference? Liverpool moved on from Hodgson quickly that January and began to build again, and while there were some further years in the wilderness, it wouldn’t be long before United were beginning their own post-Alex Ferguson descent, while Liverpool appointed Klopp.

The 4-0 victory Carl mentions was Liverpool at their final peak under Klopp, and United were a bunch of individuals lacking identity and talent. Under Slot, Liverpool are beginning to creep towards those levels again. United now have a manager with an identity, but continue to look like individuals lacking identity and talent – just with a few different faces. Are they worse now than they were in April 2022? Their league position and form suggest so.

How does your club feel about the other now?

Anka: “Oh look at me! I’m Liverpool and I’m top of the Premier League and Champions League! We have some of the best players in the league! They’re so good, our fans now spend hours on the internet arguing if they are the best in that position in Premier League history! The most improved central midfielder came about from a smart tactical readjustment from our charismatic Dutch manager, who has a similar haircut to Manchester United’s most recent Dutch manager! Our big problem is how we’ll renew our most brilliant players’ contracts! The player most likely to leave us already has a capable understudy in-house!”

Grow up. Spend £60million on an attacking dud. Have an embarrassing news story involving food hygiene. Get some real problems. Stop spending your money so sensibly.

Jones: Drawing inspiration from a new Liverpool favourite — social-media troll Neal Maupay, who happens to be a striker at Marseille on loan from Everton: “Whenever I’m having a bad day I just check the Everton Manchester United score and smile.”

United’s struggles have become a regular source of comedy for Liverpool supporters. The downfall of a big rival who spent so long dominating the Premier League will never get old, because eventually they’ll start getting things right again… right?

Every summer, United spend huge sums of money yet remain in constant reverse, bouncing from one controversy to another. It serves as a reminder of the importance of a stable ownership and leadership team. Even if Liverpool’s current hierarchy have been far from perfect, when it comes to the transfer market they have repeatedly got it right.

Is this still the biggest fixture in English football?

Jones: If we’re talking about the boring stuff like fanbase size, history and all the rest then yes, it probably still is. However, it can’t be viewed as the biggest match anymore.

Putting my tin hat on and running for cover — what should be a titanic title clash feels, from a Liverpool perspective, to have in recent times become more reminiscent of modern-day Merseyside derbies. Two clubs on different levels with Liverpool the favourites to win, but the other side capable of grabbing a result on the day.

Anka: No, but it should be. A match between these two with title ramifications for both has the potential to be a commercial juggernaut few teams, or sports, can match. This is a fixture that can break viewership records for Sky Sports. In theory at least. The Premier League’s main UK broadcaster has even tried to create a spectacle in the past — remember the dreadful ‘Red Monday’ match between sides managed by Jose Mourinho and Klopp in 2016 that ended in a dreary 0-0 draw?

How can United pull off a shock today?

Anka: If I had an honest, convincing and believable answer to that, I’d probably quit my role here at The Athletic and try to make it as a professional club analyst. This United squad has a pronounced technical and physical disadvantage in comparison with Liverpool’s, so even the typical “Hunker down, clog up the midfield, try to nab something on the counter-attack” advice rings hollow. Last season, it was Liverpool’s wastefulness in front of goal that kept Erik ten Hag’s United team in contention.

That said, Slot’s side aren’t great when it comes to attacking set pieces. This might help as Amorim’s team try to eke out whatever advantage they can in the space behind Andy Robertson. The 30-year-old has been a great Liverpool club servant but looks a little worse for wear this season. If United do score, it’ll likely be down his flank.

Jones: It feels like that will have to involve several Liverpool’s players having an off day. Given Amorim’s insistence on playing his system, it is difficult to see him setting up his side as Ten Hag did last season to earn a 0-0 draw — a defensive block which barely moved out of their own half.

The type of stay-in-the-game performance United produced against Manchester City last month may be the template. The difference is Liverpool are a rampant attacking force, while Pep Guardiola’s outgoing champions have looked like they just want this season to end since the start of November.

Ibrahima Konate’s availability is unclear, so fellow centre-back Jarell Quansah may be a target. He made the mistake for Bruno Fernandes’ goal at Old Trafford last season and has had a tough first half of this one, dropping from second choice to fourth.

Which opposition player is your team most nervous about?

Jones: Fernandes can produce that moment of brilliance out of nothing, but the pace and directness of Amad feels like United’s likeliest route to a positive result on Sunday. He single-handedly turned the Manchester derby on its head in minutes and has been one of the bright spots of Amorim’s brief tenure.

As Carl says, it has not been the smoothest season for left-back Robertson, and Amad’s skill set is the type that could cause him problems. If his team-mates can find him in the right spaces, it could be their way up the pitch.

Anka: It’s Salah. The Egyptian King is no longer torching defenders for pace as he did when he first arrived at Anfield. Nor is he doing the defensive shuttle runs that were important to silverware wins in 2018 and 2019. But he has become a forward of maximum efficiency. There are no wasted moves, nor an ounce of fat, on the 32-year-old. This is the best he’s ever been as a playmaker in the Premier League, and his goal numbers are astonishing.

There’s so much more to Liverpool 2.01 than Salah’s continued brilliance. But it’s his brilliance that is helping push a good team into one of the few great teams in Europe at the moment.

What’s your prediction?

Anka: Ask Clubber Lang.

Jones: It’s difficult to look past a Liverpool victory, but I expect it to be tougher than many seem to think. I’ll go for 2-0, but with the second goal not coming until the final 15 minutes.

(Top photos: Getty Images)