Premier League analysis: Five key battles in Man Utd vs Liverpool clash
This weekend sees the return of the ‘English Clasico’ as Manchester United welcome old foes Liverpool to Old Trafford for what promises to be another exciting chapter in the rivalry.
It has been a mixed start to the season for United, who left it late to snatch a 1-0 opening-day win against Fulham before capitulating in stoppage time to a feisty Brighton last matchday.
Under their new manager, Liverpool have had a much smoother and more promising start, comfortably winning 2-0 against both Ipswich Town and Brentford.
Both league games between these two teams were draws last season, with a surprising 0-0 stalemate at Anfield preceding an absorbing 2-2 draw at Old Trafford.
Here, Sports News Blitz’s Michael Davey considers five key aspects of the Super Sunday game in Manchester.
Erik ten Hag vs Arne Slot
It is a battle of bald Dutchmen as United’s Erik ten Hag faces fellow Eredivisie-recruit Arne Slot for the fifth time, with the current record standing at two wins apiece.
Ten Hag began his managerial career at Go Ahead Eagles in 2012 prior to a stint with the Bayern Munich reserves.
On the back of success in Munich, he returned to the Netherlands to coach Utrecht.
It was at Ajax, however, where Ten Hag hit the big time, winning three Eredivisie titles and sensationally leading them to the 2019 Champions League semi-finals.
United came calling in 2022, and he has since led the Red Devils to FA Cup and League Cup glory. Yet, while the club is in better shape now than before his arrival, Ten Hag has mostly struggled to implement a discernible brand of football in his two years at the helm.
When it works, Ten Hag’s style has attacking flair complemented by a solid defensive set-up. A highline in both attack and defence, coupled with good positioning, helps to disrupt opposition build-up play and leads to lightning-quick transitions that produce opportunities.
Arne Slot, in contrast, was a serial assistant at PEC Zwolle, Cambuur and AZ Alkmaar where he eventually became head coach in 2019.
A subsequent move to Feyenoord produced an Eredivisie and a UEFA Conference League final appearance.
Liverpool then tapped the Dutchman to replace the irreplaceable Jurgen Klopp before this season.
Slot’s style of play is very centre-focused, built on midfield domination and wing-play bolstering the central striking unit.
A high press parallels Klopp, but Slot tempers it slightly with a double pivot in midfield used as cover to break up potential counter-attacks.
It is hard to know what to expect on Sunday, not least because you never know which version of United will show up.
Ten Hag will likely install an out-and-out striker from the start this time after unsuccessful attempts at playing Bruno Fernandes as a false nine. This sharpens the attack, but deficiencies in defensive positioning remain with Liverpool’s dangerous forwards lurking.
With United slow in transition and weak through the middle, Slot’s covering system and midfield domination point to a difficult afternoon for the men from Manchester.
Ultimately, in a derby where form often goes out the window, the first meeting between Ten Hag and Slot as managers of England’s two biggest clubs promises to be a cracker.
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Trent Alexander-Arnold & Andy Robertson vs Noussair Mazraoui & Diogo Dalot
Two of football’s most highly-regarded full-backs, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson, go up against a largely untested pairing in Noussair Mazraoui and Diogo Dalot.
Liverpool’s full-backs have famously played a massive role in the success seen at Anfield since Klopp arrived in 2015.
Premier League and Champions League titles, not to mention numerous cups, were achieved on the back of exciting ‘heavy metal football’ revolving around aggressive pressing and involvement of the full-backs in speed, width and service.
Alexander-Arnold, the right-back of this pair, came through the club’s academy. Still only 25, he has made 312 appearances and scored 19 goals.
Known for his footballing IQ, brilliant passing and aptitude for assists, Alexander-Arnold embraces his creative responsibilities.
Left-back Robertson started out in his native Scotland before signing for Hull City in 2014.
Liverpool snapped him up in 2017, and he has since racked up 299 appearances and 11 goals.
Less creative than his partner in crime, Robertson is nevertheless a willing runner and a supreme athlete, always looking to make something happen.
United, for their part, have struggled in the full-back role over the last decade. Luke Shaw has had consistent injury problems while players such as Matteo Darmian, Marcos Rojo, Alexander Buttner, Alex Telles, Tyrell Malacia, and Aaron Wan-Bissaka have come and gone without much success, undoubtedly hampering United’s attack in the process.
Mazraoui is the newest signing in this position, and time will tell what the short-passing, non-conforming Moroccan right-back can bring.
Dalot, on the other hand, is a rare success story in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era.
After a slow start to life at Carrington, he has taken ownership of a full-back berth and now regularly provides defensive awareness and a wide presence.
Taking into account previous trophies and pedigree, as well as overall impact on team play, Alexander-Arnold and Robertson are both shoe-ins to be instrumental and dangerous on Sunday. Mazraoui and Dalot will conversely be a little more isolated and possibly stunted.
One thing to consider is that the Liverpool full-backs do come in for some criticism regarding their defending, arguably a given considering the extent of their attacking powers.
If Dalot and Mazraoui can grab the chances in the half-spaces, United might just have a shout in this area.
So, while it looks a tall order for United’s full-backs, it will be business as usual for Liverpool.
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Joshua Zirkzee vs Diogo Jota
It is unproven against proven as Joshua Zirkzee returns to the scene of his memorable opening-day winner to face a Liverpool side led by the dangerous Diogo Jota.
United’s new signing Zirkzee had a well-travelled youth career, taking in spells with ADO Den Haag, Feyenoord and Bayern Munich.
Limited first-team opportunities at the latter then saw the Dutch striker depart for Bologna. Last season, he finished as their top scorer and helped them to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in 59 years.
The Red Devils accordingly pounced for the £37million Zirkzee in order to provide Rasmus Hojlund with a partner.
The new emphasis on youthful attackers at Old Trafford follows years of buying ageing stars well past their prime, and it got off to a dream start when Zirkzee netted the only goal of the game against Fulham two weeks ago.
Unfortunately, Zirkzee followed that up by getting in the way of Alejandro Garnacho’s possible winner against Brighton in a game United went on to lose in stoppage time.
Goal line accidents aside, Zirkzee is set to bring a much-needed sharpness to Ten Hag’s forward structure.
Jota, though, is already a mainstay of Liverpool’s blockbuster attacking line-up.
A good spell at Wolverhampton Wanderers led to Liverpool making a £41million deal in 2020, and he has looked worth every penny in helping the club to the league title and a Champions League final.
Highly versatile and capable of playing across the forward line, Jota is best deployed as a clinical centre forward whose ball control and ceaseless sense of movement make him especially dangerous on the counter.
On Sunday, after two substitute appearances, Zirkzee will probably start in an effort to give United the edge they have been lacking.
Zirkzee thus has an opportunity to influence the game in its entirety, which will be a good indicator of his readiness for Premier League football.
Jota is already in his element this season. The Portuguese opened the scoring against Ipswich and will not hesitate to grab another goal against United’s suspect defence.
Zirkzee must keep in mind that any misses are certain to be punished at the other end by his opposite number.
With Jota needing only a fraction of an opportunity to make United pay and Red Devils fans full of expectation for their new signing, Zirkzee simply has to take his chances.
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Mohamed Salah vs United’s wingers
One of the best forwards in Premier League history comes up against a ragtag group of up-and-comers and out-of-formers in United’s wingers.
Salah, it must be said, has had an interesting journey to the top of the game. A promising start at Egyptian club Al Mokawloon and a productive spell at FC Basel convinced Chelsea to sign him.
But the Blues infamously failed to work out what to do with him and eventually jettisoned him to AS Roma where he truly began to shine.
Liverpool recognised Salah’s obvious talent and signed him for £37million in 2017.
The rest is history as he duly helped Liverpool to both Premier League and Champions League crowns, forming a fearsome and historical triumvirate with Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane.
A consummate professional and hard-worker, Salah is technical, tactical and mobile.
Using his wonderful dribbling ability and deft first touch, he routinely fashions opportunities out of nothing and exhibits great finishing, not to mention assisting, capabilities.
United, by contrast, have utterly failed to fill the wide positions with the requisite quality since Ferguson left.
At a club where George Best, Ryan Giggs, David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo once made their name on the wing, Angel Di Maria, Alexis Sanchez and recently Antony have flattered to deceive. And it shows in the drop-off in attacking output.
Marcus Rashford and Amad Diallo were the wingers in United’s last two games, with Garnacho coming on in both matches.
The latter two are young and still learning the trade while the former has been in a funk since a career-best season two years ago.
Antony is regarded by many as an abject transfer failure and Jadon Sancho is seemingly frozen out due to attitude issues.
None of this bodes well for the visit of Salah. Having already scored the all-important second goal in both of Liverpool’s wins this season, the Egyptian appears as ready as ever and will be confident of continuing his fine record of 14 goals in 15 games against United.
With a new striker installed, United must make better use of width so as to create chances that can be put away.
If Ten Hag is to form a cohesive attacking unit moving forward, his wingers need to get involved more, and there is no better template to follow than Salah.
It is game on for the merciless Salah to make something happen, but for United’s wingers it is a fight to make even a fraction of the same impact.
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Bruno Fernandes vs Dominik Szoboszlai
Lastly, there is a fascinating battle of the playmakers on the cards as Bruno Fernandes meets Dominik Szoboszlai.
United’s talisman started his career in Serie B with Novara prior to spells at Udinese and Sampdoria. Fernandes returned to his homeland with Sporting Lisbon in 2017 where great personal and team success prompted the Red Devils to sign him for £47million in 2020.
Fernandes has been a true success at United, one of probably only two unqualified transfer successes since Ferguson retired, with the other being the enigmatic Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
In 236 appearances for United, the Portuguese star has scored 79 goals and assisted 67 times, in the process becoming the beating heart of a sleeping giant struggling to wake up.
Direct and energetic, Fernandes is a box-to-box playmaker who likes to set the rhythm.
Risky in possession and susceptible to conceding turnovers, he nevertheless guarantees something happening with his wide range of passing and endless creativity.
Szoboszlai, Hungary’s 23-year-old captain, is a recent addition to Liverpool’s line-up, signed by Klopp ahead of his final season.
Before Liverpool, he had made a name for himself within the Red Bull ecosystem at Red Bull Salzburg and RB Leipzig.
Similar to Fernandes, he is a box-to-box midfielder. Technical in spite of his height, the right-footed Szoboszlai serves to effectively break opposition lines and progress the play through a combination of exceptional timing and multi-faceted passing abilities.
Undoubtedly United’s principal chess piece, Fernandes is set to play a big role in Sunday’s game for better or worse.
The ball will likely go through him more often than not, and much will depend on how Fernandes manages his oftentimes erratic composure.
Szoboszlai is a quieter, more workmanlike presence in the Liverpool midfield, and Fernandes’ frustration could provide an opportunity to steal the show for the Hungarian.
At the end of the day, Fernandes carries United’s hopes on his back. If he performs, so too will his team-mates and the Red Devils might get something from the game.
Otherwise, it is a short trip back to the drawing board for Ten Hag and his troops.
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