LIVE: Manchester United vs Liverpool – Naby Keita silences Old Trafford with early strike for visitors, just moments after Bruno Fernandes missed a glorious chance for hosts
- Manchester United and Liverpool meet in the Premier League at Old Trafford
- Jurgen Klopp’s side are undefeated in their opening eight league fixtures
- They have scored at least three goals in each away fixture so far this season
- Ole Gunnar Solskjaer remains under serious pressure despite midweek win
- United will need a drastically improved performance to defeat at Leicester
Manchester United and Liverpool meet at Old Trafford in a hotly-anticipated Premier League clash on Sunday afternoon.
Jurgen Klopp’s side remain undefeated in all games this season and will want three more points to keep up the pressure on leaders Chelsea.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer remains under serious pressure despite his team’s midweek comeback win over Atalanta but a win over their main rivals could alter that. xxxxxxwwe3
Follow Sportsmail’s SPENCER MORGAN for live Premier League coverage of Manchester United vs Liverpool, including build-up, team news and updates.
Three minutes of added time.
What a miss.
McTominay gets a free header in the box and outs it across goal for Cavani, who manages to spoon it onto the crossbar from close range with the goal gaping.
Firmino is replaced by Mane.
15 minutes to go here. The final whistle can’t come soon enough for the hosts.
Save!
Alexander-Arnold lets fly from 20 yards and forces De Gea to tip the ball over with a fine stop.
Damage limitation now for United.
Keita has to be stretchered off following that Pogba foul. Oxlade-Chamberlain comes on.
Cavani and Dalot replace Fernandes and Rashford.
Pogba goes in over the top on Keita.
The referee gives a yellow but it’s checked and replays show it was dangerous.
He’s off.
It really is a sad atmosphere at Old Trafford. Hard to see how Ole survives this.
Ronaldo latches on to a ball over the top and makes space for himself before finding the far corner.
Lovely finish but it’s checked by VAR which rules that he was marginally offside.
It just gets worse and worse for United.
Liverpool win the ball back and it’s played through for Salah on the right. He makes his way towards goal before executing a cute finish past De Gea.
Hat-trick for the Egyptian.
Greenwood off, Pogba on.
The boos ring out as the referee puts united out of their misery for 15 minutes.
This is embarrassing.
The ball is played out to Salah on the right hand side of the box and he finshes first time at the near post.
Too easy.
Ronaldo is lucky.
He tussles for the ball with Alexander-Arnold. He then appears to kick out at the ball and the defender on the floor.
Only a yellow.
Three minutes of added time
Rashford almost makes something happen as he avoids a couple of challenges before putting the ball across goal.
Ronaldo can’t quite reach it.
The Liverpool fans are having the time of their lives. Silence from the home crowd.
A ball is played over the top for Rashford, who tries to hit it first time but doesn’t catch it cleanly.
Important header from Robertson who just gets a touch to stop the ball reaching Ronaldo at the back post.
Save!
Salah gets in on the right and drives towards goal before forcing a save out of De Gea from a tight angle.
Chance!
A waste from Firmino as Keita finds him at the back post. He shanks his volley wide. Poor.
Save!
Greenwood recieves the ball on the edge of the area and forces a decent save out of Alisson.
The game has slowed down. All you can hear is the Liverpool fans.
NO signs of a comeback from United. You worry for them every time Liverpool get the ball.
The ball falls to Ronaldo on the left hand side of the box but he rushes the shot and it goes high and wide.
You can feel the frustration from the united fans. The two teams look levels apart at the moment.
United are 2-0 down again!
More awful defending allows Keita to play the ball out to Alexander-Arnold on the right hand side of the box.
He puts a lovely ball across goal for Jota to tap in.
Greenwood with an effort for united but he drags his strike wide.
Salah latches on to a ball over the top but proceeds to fire wide.
Chance!
Another break for Liverpool almost results in a goal. Keita tees up Firmino in the box this time but De Gea makes the save.
What a start for the visitors!
They break and there’s acres of space. Salah receives the ball and slides in Keita. He’s clean through on goal and finishes coolly.
Chance!
United win the ball back in the Liverpool half and Ronaldo lays it off to Greenwood, who plays Fernandes in on the right.
The midfielder blazes it high and wide. Poor.
A positive start from the hosts who are clearly looking to hit Liverpool on the break at any opportunity.
Liverpool get us underway.
Roberto Firmino is rarely mentioned in the discussions about the world’s greatest No 9s but his manager Jurgen Klopp considers him the starting point of all Liverpool’s success since 2015.
The selfless Brazilian is the polar opposite to Manchester United’s celebrated centre-forward Cristiano Ronaldo in what will be a fascinating contrast of styles when they run out at Old Trafford.
Yet nobody in the Anfield dressing-room would swap their Bobby right now — not even for a multiple Ballon d’Or winner.
Mohamed Salah on the ball during the warm-ups
Liverpool’s Ibrahima Konate and Trent Alexander-Arnold
Manchester United have opened discussions on a major redevelopment of Old Trafford that could see the stadium’s capacity increase to 80,000.
The club has often come under fire from fans over the lack of improvements to the stadium and issues including leaks from the roof of the Sir Bobby Charlton Stand.
The development will not solely focus on the stadium with United also keen to explore different ideas for improvement of the entire footprint around the ground.
There were two early kick-offs in the Premier League this afternoon and they’re just drawn to a close.
West Ham have capped a brilliant week by beating London rivals Tottenham 1-0 thanks to Michail Antonio’s goal with 18 minutes left.
Meanwhile, Leicester have also claimed another win, beating Brentford 2-1. James Maddison has grabbed the winner there.
It means that Man United start their game sitting seventh in the table.
Manchester United are working overtime on their defence against Liverpool with one of Sir Alex Ferguson’s famous mantras ringing in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s ears.
United face Jurgen Klopp’s unbeaten side at Old Trafford having conceded six times in their last two matches and kept just one clean sheet this season, against Wolves in August.
Solskjaer admits it is a huge concern and insists tightening up is a priority if United aren’t to fall seven points behind their rivals this afternoon. United were beaten 4-2 at Leicester last weekend and then had to fight from 2-0 down to beat Atalanta in the Champions League on Wednesday night.
…and people seem to be buying them. Surely this is one rivalry that should be immune from such nonsense?
It was of little surprise to see Jamie Carragher lavishing rich praise on Liverpool defender Joel Matip – and he was correct to do just that. After all, Matip has enjoyed a superb season and been ever present for his club.
His reward was the former Anfield stalwart claiming that he has been better than Virgil van Dijk this season, a surprising claim indeed but not one wholly without merit. Together, they have formed a formidable partnership.
Ever present across this campaign, Matip has featured in all but one Premier League game. In each of those, the towering centre back has been his typical Rolls-Royce-like self, hoovering up loose balls and hurtling into tackles.
Liverpool are unbeaten in 18 league games, the longest current run in the top four tiers of English football (W13 D5). Away from home, the Reds have scored at least three goals in each of their last five Premier League games (17 in total), with only Man Utd last season having a longer such run in the competition (6).
In the Premier League, only Wayne Rooney (six goals) has scored more times for Manchester United against Liverpool than Marcus Rashford (four goals in eight appearances).
Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah scored three goals in his two away games against Manchester United last season (2 in the FA Cup, 1 in the Premier League) – no Liverpool player has ever scored in three consecutive away games against Manchester United before.
Each of Roberto Firmino’s last 10 Premier League goals for Liverpool have come away from home. In the competition’s history, only three players have had longer such runs – Ryan Giggs (13 between 2001 and 2003), Harry Kane (13 in 2017) and Ole Gunnar Solskjær (11 in 2002).
With 26 shots and 31 chances created, Man Utd’s Bruno Fernandes has been directly involved in a higher share of his team’s attempts this season than any other player in the Premier League (41% – 57/138). Nine of his chances created have been for Mason Greenwood, with no player setting up a teammate more so far this term.
United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer waves to the fans outside Old Trafford
A masked-up Cristiano Ronaldo makes his entrance
Harry Maguire steps off the team bus
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is unlucky in that Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel are the best in the world. They set the bar extremely high and, compared to them, Solskjaer is inferior.
He has qualities and has done a lot of good things at United; he’s helped them progress, become easier on the eye and come close to winning silverware.
But, after three years, the fanbase and hierarchy want more than that. They demand trophies and I don’t believe Solskjaer can compete with his rivals tactically or in making big man- management decisions.
CLICK BELOW TO READ THE FULL COLUMN
Manchester United: De Gea, Wan Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Shaw, McTominay, Fred, Greenwood, Bruno Fernandes, Rashford, Ronaldo
Substitutes: Bailly, Pogba, Lingard, Dalot, Cavani, Sancho, Henderson, Matic, van de Beek
Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Konate, van Dijk, Robertson, Keita, Henderson, Milner, Salah, Firmino, Jota
Substitutes: Mane, Gomez, Adrian, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jones, Minamino, Tsimikas, Origi, Matip.
Referee: Anthony Taylor (Cheshire)
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp favours Diogo Jota in attack with Sadio Mane starting on the bench. Fabinho misses out with a knock to the knee and James Milner takes his place in the midfield alongside Jordan Henderson and Naby Keita.
So Paul Pogba starts on the bench with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer favouring a midfield duo of Fred and Scott McTominay. Jadon Sancho is also among the substitutes with Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood the wide players in support of Cristiano Ronaldo. Despite a few fitness doubts after the midweek Atalanta game, Bruno Fernandes is available and starts.
We will have confirmation of the United and Liverpool teams momentarily.
Manchester United have won just one of their last 10 Premier League meetings with Liverpool (D6 L3), losing this exact fixture 4-2 last season.
Following their 4-2 win at Man Utd in May, Liverpool are looking to secure consecutive league victories at Old Trafford for the first time since January 2002.
Manchester United shipped four goals in a home Premier League game for only the fifth time in last season’s encounter with Liverpool, losing 4-2. The last team to score 4+ goals in consecutive top-flight visits to Man Utd was Burnley in 1961-62 (won 4-1) and 1962-63 (won 5-2).
Liverpool are unbeaten in their last 25 Premier League matches against ‘United’ teams (W18 D7) since losing 2-1 away to Manchester United in March 2018. Should they avoid defeat here, it would be the joint-longest unbeaten run against ‘United’ teams in the history of the Football League, matching Brentford’s 26-game run between October 1998 and November 2000.
Manchester United are without a clean sheet in any of their last nine home league matches, their longest run without one since a run of 10 between September 1970 and February 1971.
Meanwhile, the Red Devils have only picked up eight points from their last seven home Premier League matches (W2 D2 L3), winning twice as many points in their previous seven at Old Trafford (16 – W5 D1 L1).
Graeme Souness has dished out his typical brand of compliment by hailing Mohamed Salah as ‘extremely selfish’ but also a ‘goal machine’ that Liverpool must do all they can to tie down to a new contract.
The former Liverpool midfielder accepted Reds’ boss Jurgen Klopp’s view that Salah is currently the best player in the world, with the Egyptian in scintillating form having scored seven goals in eight Premier League matches this season.
His goals have been at the heart of Liverpool’s resurgence this season after a shaky last campaign, and Salah will arguably be the biggest threat on the pitch in Sunday’s derby clash against Manchester United.
Cristiano Ronaldo stole the headlines once again this week after scoring a last-gasp winner for Manchester United during their Champions League group game with Atalanta on Wednesday night.
The 36-year-old executed one of his trademark headers in the 81st minute of the game to secure his second consecutive Champions League match-winner and help the Red Devils win 3-2.
Now, the Portugal international will turn his attention to Sunday’s fixture – where he will face Liverpool for the 13th time in his career when Jurgen Klopp’s men travel to Old Trafford.
READ THE FULL ARTICLE BY CLICKING THE LINK BELOW
It is one of English football’s most enduring rivalries, guaranteed to be the most eagerly-anticipated fixture of the season regardless of how well either team is doing.
It’s a tale of two cities, a never-ending quest to outdo each other whether it be in football, music or industry. Manchester and Liverpool set to do battle once again.
Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool side come to Old Trafford in formidable form, guarding an unbeaten start to the season across all competitions as they score goals for fun.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would happily swap fortunes. Manchester United have stuttered at times in the opening weeks of the campaign and look far from convincing despite all their stars.
It would certainly relieve plenty of pressure on Solskjaer’s shoulders if they could win today but United are probably the underdogs.
Welcome along to our live coverage of Manchester United vs Liverpool from Old Trafford. Plenty of build-up plus the team news to come before the 4.30pm kick-off.
Manchester United fans Matthew Brooks (R) and his son Ethan (L) wait for the team bus
No Comments on Live Update: Manchester United and Liverpool meet in the Premier League at Old Trafford