Liverpool host Manchester United at Anfield on Sunday with these bitter rivals in very different situations.
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Arne Slot’s Liverpool are top of the Premier League and absolutely flying. Even though the contract situations of Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold could be a distraction, they haven’t been so far. Every single Liverpool player is stepping up and they’re playing some wonderful attacking football.
It’s the complete opposite for new Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim, who has admitted they have to face the reality that they’re in a relegation battle. United have lost five of their last six as the Red Devils are seven points above the relegation zone at the start of 2025. Still, they have a penchant for pulling off shock results against their rivals when we least expect it, but winning at Anfield in their current form looks almost impossible.
Below is a look at the Liverpool vs Manchester United predicted lineups, with both managers having some key decisions to make.
Liverpool predicted lineup
——- Alisson ——-
—- Alexander-Arnold —- Quansah —- Van Dijk —- Robertson —-
—— Gravenberch —— Mac Allister ——
—— Salah —— Szoboszlai —— Gakpo ——
——- Diaz ——-
There are a couple of big decisions for Slot to make and one of those is at center back. With Gomez and Konate going down with injuries, Quansah is the only available center back left to partner Van Dijk. That will be the call but Endo can play there out of position and it could be an option as Quansah has struggled in recent outings. Alexander-Arnold’s situation is intriguing as speculation continues about him telling Liverpool he wants to move to Real Madrid. But with Conor Bradley just recovering from injury, Trent will start again at right back. In central midfield is where the other big decision has to be made. Gravenberch will start but which one of Jones, Mac Allister and Szoboszlai misses out? It may be Jones as the other two have been preferred for some big games this season, but there really is no wrong answer here and Slot has been rotating between the three central midfielders expertly. Up top the trio of Salah on the right, Gakpo on the left and Diaz centrally have interchanged perfectly in recent games and they’ll surely get the nod. With Diogo Jota, Harvey Elliott and Darwin Nunez as options off the bench, Slot can change things up in-game in attack and is blessed with so many different options.
Manchester United predicted lineup
——- Onana ——-
—- Yoro —- De Ligt —- Martinez —-
—— Mazraoui —- Mainoo —- Ugarte —— Dalot —-
—— Amad —— Fernandes ——
——- Hojlund ——
Where do we even start with this Manchester United lineup? So many players have struggled with Amorim’s preferred 3-4-2-1 system and the center backs have been rotated and are low on confidence. Yoro could come in for this game due to his extra speed and mobility, while De Ligt and Maguire will fight for the center spot and Martinez will likely start on the left even though he had a nightmare against Newcastle. We are likely to see the same wide defenders as we did away at Man City with Mazraoui on the right and Dalot on the left giving United more solidity, while Mainoo and Ugarte (back from suspension) are certain to start in midfield after the experiment of Casemiro and Eriksen starting against Newcastle went horribly wrong. Amad Diallo has been one of the few bright spots of this season and he will start underneath the hard-working Hojlund. Bruno Fernandes is back from suspension and will come straight back in to the starting lineup and United need him to keep his cool and use his experience to launch any counter attacks they can muster.
