Mourinho and Klopp gearing up for another tactical contest
Internet Desk: The Red Devils will host their bitter rivals at Old Trafford as United goes after a top-four spot in the EPL standings.
Wayne Rooney. Despite missing out on his 250th Manchester United goal on Tuesday night, this could be the perfect game for him to finally break Sir Bobby Charlton’s record, he equalled the record against Reading in the FA Cup last weekend.
He should accomplish another record on Sunday, when he becomes only the 21st Premier League player to reach 450 Premier League appearances.
Jurgen Klopp will be making a gamble when Liverpool faces off with Manchester United on Sunday. The German manager is going to play star forward Philippe Coutinho more minutes following his return from ankle injury. Liverpool will be without star man Sadio Mane, who has left to join Senegal at the Africa Cup of Nations.
The Reds are coming off a loss against Southampton in the first leg of the EFL Cup Semifinals. Coutinho played just 29 minutes in the 1-0 defeat but Klopp is planning to give him more playing time. The Brazilian star has not started a league game since he suffered an ankle injury last November 26, 2016.
“The more minutes he gets, the more comfortable he’ll get again. It’s not easy when you’ve been out that long, still thinking about the injury, so it was positive for him to get some minutes. The more he plays, the more influential he will be for us again,” Klopp told the media.
On the other hand, Manchester United are on a 15-game unbeaten run in all competitions since November 3, 2016, when they lost to Fenerbahce. In their last three games, United have scored a total of eight goals while not allowing a single goal.
Possible line-up:
Manchester United (4-3-3): De Gea – Darmian, Rojo, Jones, Valencia – Herrera, Pogba, Carrick – Mkhitaryan, Ibrahimovic, Lingard
Liverpool (4-3-3): Mignolet – Milner, Klavan, Lovren, Clyne – Wijnaldum, Lallana, Can – Firmino, Origi, Coutinho
Past three meetings…
Liverpool 0 Manchester United 0, Anfield, October 2016
Manchester United 1 (Martial) Liverpool 1 (Coutinho) Old Trafford, March 2016
Liverpool 2 (Sturridge, Firmino) Manchester United 0 Anfield, March 2016
Form guide…
Manchester United: WWWWWW
Liverpool: WWWWDD