THERE’S a reason why Liverpool versus Manchester United has never quite been the English ‘Clasico’.
That’s because, quite unlike Real Madrid against Barcelona, English football’s two grandest clubs have rarely gone head-to-head in the white heat of a title race.
After a woeful start to the season, Manchester United are now three points clear at the top of the leagueCredit: Getty Images – Getty
Liverpool have not been at the same levels as last seasonCredit: Reuters
In fact, only once in the 21st century have they previously done so – in 2009, the year of Rafa Benitez’s ‘FACT!’ rant and Fernando Torres roasting Nemanja Vidic at Old Trafford, but United still edging out their most bitter rivals.
That is what makes today’s Anfield showdown such a monumental occasion.
Even without the usual soundtrack of fear, loathing and pure hatred which usually accompanies it, this is a red-letter fixture of rare importance.
While Manchester City remain bookies’ favourites and Leicester refuse to fall away, this is still a proper six-pointer, the acid match of an intriguing season.
With Liverpool faltering and United resurgent, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men can not only open up a six-point lead over the champions, they can signal a shift in the balance of power between England’s two most
historically successful clubs.
UNITED REVIVAL
United are the revivalists. Their biggest names – Paul Pogba, David De Gea and Harry Maguire – began this campaign doubted and discredited.
Yet all three have rediscovered their peak form.
Pogba has been brilliant in recent weeksCredit: EPA
Maguire appears to have put off-field issues behind himCredit: Reuters
The widely-held image of Pogba as a stroppy, diffident, distracted egomaniac has never been shared by his United team-mates and often owes more to his gob-artist agent Mino Raiola than the player himself.
Pogba often performs in short-term bursts – a ‘tournament player’, one who grasped the nettle when France won the last World Cup, not one
ever likely to be named Footballer of the Year for a season of relentless consistency.
The Frenchman might not possess the supreme inspirational powers to lift a struggling team out of a slump – but show him a title race, show him the genuine prospect of a major trophy, and Pogba’s class can shine through.
His current form is excellent. Today represents a glorious opportunity for Pogba, as for his team.
LIVERPOOL VS MAN UTD: GET 40/1 ON A PENALTY FOR EITHER TEAM
De Gea, once the Premier League’s prime goalkeeper and the only survivor of United’s last title triumph 2013, has been accident-prone for years.
The Spaniard began this season with most expecting Dean Henderson to replace him as United’s No 1 yet that challenge to his status appears to have focused his mind.
Few are now talking about De Gea as a liability.
As the current season approached, United skipper Maguire was banged up in a Greek jail after a disastrous holiday in Mykonos and he would
soon be sent off for England after two horrible challenges within the first half an hour of a Nations League clash with Denmark.
That night, many believed Maguire was a man in the grip of personal crisis, his confidence shot, in dire need of a spell out of the firing line.
Yet Maguire carried on regardless and his influence on United’s upturn which has brought nine wins in 11 unbeaten Premier League matches – has been huge.
Old Slab-head is not a truly world-class central defender but he is that modern rarity – a proper leader of men.
When United struggled to break down Burnley on Tuesday night, Maguire stuck his famous bonce in where it hurts to ‘score’ an old-school header which should never have been ruled out.
And while a much nicer guy than United’s last true captain, Roy Keane, Maguire is also an effective badgerer of referees – see the crucial winning penalty at Brighton early this season, scored after the final
whistle had actually blown and awarded via VAR after Maguire had led the protests.
These three senior pros have been critical to United’s renaissance and they will be crucial to their hopes at Anfield.
LIVERPOOL GOAL DROUGHT
But what to make of Liverpool, a remorseless winning machine for the previous couple of years, yet a side incapable of beating Brighton, Fulham, West Brom or Newcastle in recent weeks?
It would be obvious to point to the heart of defence, where Virgil Van Dijk and Joe Gomez are out for the season.
And yet Jurgen Klopp’s men are not shipping goals at an alarming rate instead they are struggling to score them. No goals in almost four and a half hours in the Premier League.
It’s Liverpool’s attack that’s not quite right at the momentCredit: EPA
Injuries to summer signings Diogo Jota and Thiago Alcantara – now restored to fitness – have been just as significant.
The fabled attacking trio of Mo Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino has not been clicking. Trent Alexander-Arnold, so dynamic at right-back over the previous couple of seasons, has suffered a downturn in form.
Yet Liverpool remain unbeaten at Anfield in the Premier League for almost four years.
While the behind-closed-doors era has eradicated home advantage for most clubs, Anfield remains a fortress.
Solskjaer has often been cautious in the biggest games, looking to sit back and hit the opposition on the counter. Dare he grant his team a little more attacking licence today?
Because a United victory would reverberate across the land.
Success for Liverpool would suggest we have been gazing on another false dawn for Solskjaer.
Either way let us hope for a classic, even if this is not truly our ‘Clasico’.
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Liverpool vs Man Utd combined XI: Salah and Bruno Fernandes make joint side but Pogba misses out ahead of Prem clash
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
