At the start of the 30th round of Premier League we have a duel between two teams with most titles in England, while fact that Manchester United currently occupies the second place in the table and has just two points than 3rd-placed Liverpool gives it an additional charm. Both teams are in fairly good shape and we need to add that their last four head-to-head ended as draw.
It is especially interesting that those were mostly hard and uncertain matches, which suggests that we might see something similar at the Old Trafford on Saturday. On top of it, manager of the home team, Mourinho, is very much aware that his team doesn’t have much chance to outplay fleet footed Liverpool, and is it much more realistic to expect that the Red Devils try to control the mid-field, while chance to score will be sought primarily through counter-attacks or set pieces.
Besides, the Red Devils must preserve their strength for coming duel with Sevilla in the Champions League, with which they drew 0-0 the 1st leg as visiting team. In the meantime they eliminated Huddersfield and reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. Regarding the league, in two previous rounds Manchester United won two important victories over Chelsea and Crystal Palace. We need to add that due to injuries the derby should skip defenders Jones and Blind, midfielders Fellaini and Herrera, and forwards Martial and Ibrahimovic.
Probable lineups Manchester United: de Gea – Valencia, Bailly, Smalling, Young – McTominay, Matic, Pogba – Lingard, Lukaku, Sanchez
Unlike the United that still hasn’t secured a place for itself among eight best European teams, Liverpool verified last week its place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League with home draw with Porto 0-0, given it won the 1st leg as guest by high 5-0. Besides, it was clear to everyone that Liverpool saved its strength for the great derby with the Reds, which is why manager Klopp had rested most of standard starters.
We must say that the guests from Liverpool had before drew with Porto the four-game winning streak, out of which three matches were won in the Premier League and right now the Reds lag behind 2nd-placed Manchester United for just two points, while at the same time they have two points more than 4th-placed Tottenham and even seven than 5th-positioned Chelsea. Let’s add that situation with injuries is getting better and better, and only not fully recovered defender Clyne and midfielder Wijnaldum should skip this match with the United.
Probable lineups Liverpool: Karius – Alexandar-Arnold, Matip, van Dijk, Robertson – Oxlade-Chamberlain, Henderson, Emre Can – Salah, Firmino, Mane
Greatest English derby has an additional weight this time, as this is duel between 2nd and 3rd placed teams in the table, which is why we believe that main objective of both teams will be to avoid defeat, meaning there shouldn’t be too many goals in the end.
Pick: under 2.5 goals
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