Manchester United vs Liverpool

| Saturday, March 10th |
Premier League | Old Trafford
12:30 PM GMT/07:30 AM EST

The battle for second place in the Premier League is on tomorrow when Liverpool travel to the Red side of Manchester to take on José Mourinho’s United in the 200^th competitive match between the two clubs. With the last three PL fixtures ending in draws and a mere two points separating the two clubs, though a win for either side won’t affect Manchester City’s first place, this one is all about the rivalry which dates way back to April 1894, and of course, the bragging rights. Manchester United have won 79 of the 199 matches played against Liverpool who have won 65 and there have been 55 draws.

Manchester United are on the back of two dramatic Premier League wins, coming from behind to beat Chelsea 2-1 (Old Trafford on 25 February) and Crystal Palace 3-2 (Selhurst Park on 3 March) with their most recent loss in the league having been at the hands of Newcastle (St James Park on 11 February 2018). The Mancs are through to the quarter-finals in the FA Cup after their win over Huddersfield on 17 February and they take on Sevilla in their Champions League Round of 16, second leg match on Tuesday, March 13^th. United hold the best home defensive record in the PL this season, conceding six times in 14 games.

Liverpool have won their last three Premier League matches, having drawn before that against Tottenham on 4 February 2018. The Reds most recent PL loss was in January 2018 away to a resurging Swansea.

Liverpool are tied with Lyon for the team who has scored the most away goals in the top five domestic European leagues this season with 34 goals. The Reds have scored 67 Premier League goals this season with Mohamed Salah scoring 24 of those goals, ten more than United’s Romelu Lukaku, who is one goal short of reaching 100 PL goals. Salah has scored in his last five PL matches. Only Daniel Sturridge (eight matches in February 2014) and Michael Owen (six in April 2003) have scored in more consecutive matches.

Projected Liverpool Lineup (4-3-3)

Karius; Gomez, Lovren, Van Dijk, Robertson; Henderson, Can, Oxlade-Chamberlain; Salah, Firmino, Mané

Klopp made five changes to the team that beat Newcastle last Saturday for our Champions League match against Porto in mid-week, giving Adam Lallana his first start in two months and Danny Ings some game time when he came on as a substitute for Firmino at 62 minutes. Andy Robertson and Georginio Wijnaldum are both in contention for tomorrow’s match and Jordan Henderson has recovered from his recent leg problem. If Jordan does get the run out tomorrow it will be his 200^th appearance in a Liverpool shirt. Nathaniel Clyne remains unavailable as he looks to regain his match fitness.

Eric Bailly has been declared fully fit and Maroune Fellaini could return following recovery from his knee injury. Phil Jones (match fitness), Ander Herrera (hamstring) and Marcus Rojo (match fitness) are all still unavailable and Anthony Martial remains side-lined after suffering a knock against Crystal Palace on Monday night. Mourinho indicated during the press conference earlier today that he would basically be fielding the same squad that beat Crystal Palace on Monday night.

What the Managers Had to Say

Jurgen Klopp: I don’t think that the game needs any extra reasons to be a big game, it’s the biggest game I can imagine. First of all, I’m really looking forward to it but how it always is in these games, they are difficult as well. We need to be at 100 per cent, if not a few more, to get something there – but of course, that’s the plan. I think it’s a good moment to go there, but it’s still an unbelievably difficult moment because Man United have outstanding quality, we all know that, they have a home game, which we would say is an advantage for us if we played at Anfield so now they have that advantage and it’s our job to level that so nobody can see that. Very experienced team, very experienced manager, so it’s quite a job to do.

José Mourinho: For me, it’s just a big match - two historical clubs, not just in England, but in the world. And in this moment, important points for the top four, important points for second position, which is better than third or fourth.

The Officials

Referee: Craig Pawson Assistants: Gary Beswick, Peter Kirkup Fourth official: Martin Atkinson

Kickoff is set for 12:30PM GMT/07:30AM EST tomorrow, and television listings for the match can be found on LiveSoccerTV. In the meantime, we’ll be keeping you updated with all the buildup to the game, including team news as it’s released, our live matchday thread, and post-match recaps from The Liverpool Offside staff. If you want to join the discussion, sign up for an SB Nation account to have your say on the action as it happens.