Manchester United’s recent record at Anfield is painful and Liverpool should go into the game with confidence

The biggest indication of Liverpool’s recent dominance over Manchester United has been the pre-match advertisements building up to the most watched club fixture in football.

While broadcasters Sky Sports have been spoilt for choice for quick cut-aways of Liverpool celebrations in recent times – be it Mohamed Salah and Alisson Becker, Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz or even Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino – the attempt at balancing the redress with United images has left those tasked with slim pickings only.

United’s last goal at Anfield came via Jesse Lingard in a 3-1 defeat over five years ago. It was December 2018 and was the last match Jose Mourinho took charge of as United manager. It’s been a real tale of woe for the Red Devils at Anfield since they pilfered a 1-0 win in Jurgen Klopp’s first taste of the fixture, which came eight years ago next month when Louis van Gaal was manager.

Back then, Klopp was just a handful of months into the job and had Mamadou Sakho partnering Kolo Toure in defence before bringing on Steven Caulker as an emergency, makeshift striker. It’s fair to say a lot has changed since then and not just with regards to the power shift between the two most successful clubs in English football. Since then, Liverpool’s main Manchester rivals have become Man City and there can surely be no greater ignominy from a United perspective.

Rarely has the gap been this evident and obvious, certainly in the Premier League era and most definitely not in favour of Liverpool, whose efforts to match their historic enemy at the top of the game this century were only fleeting prior to Klopp’s arrival in 2015.

There was no greater indication of the gap between the two teams than March’s 7-0 thumping at Anfield, even if the 4-0 smiting that preceded it in April 2022 was a Liverpool team in greater command of their powers as they gunned for an unprecedented quadruple.

United are enduring a torrid season having lost 11 times in all competitions already with as many as seven of those coming in the Premier League. Serious questions are being asked of Erik ten Hag even if there is much ambiguity over who would even have the power to relieve him of his duties if the worst comes to fruition at Anfield this weekend.

With Sir Jim Ratcliffe currently waiting to have a 25% stake in club, that reportedly includes final say on the football operations side of things, ratified by the owners, the Glazer family, there is a power vacuum seemingly in place at the top of the tree at Old Trafford, which means Ten Hag is likely on safe ground for now.

But another miserable outing on Merseyside will only increase the pressure on the Dutchman and there will be no quarter given from Klopp’s Liverpool, even if the Reds boss has been desperate to talk down his chances of another stroll in the park this weekend.

Klopp was at pains to stress that Sunday’s game is no foregone conclusion and that meetings with Manchester United can never be deemed as such. There is, of course, plenty of merit in what the Reds boss says.

Plus with United heading into the game in such poor form, low on confidence and short on stars against a team who have slammed 11 past them on their last two visits; a team who move into the weekend as Premier League leaders with a 100% home record, it’s clear why the neutrals are giving Ten Hag’s men little chance. In a way it is almost too obvious that Klopp will triumph once more on Sunday, isn’t it?

That is perhaps where much of the apprehension for those supporters who aren’t overly confident for the game stems from. And yet still, United have done almost nothing to suggest they are capable of landing a glove on their hosts, even if Liverpool fail to perform in front of the biggest crowd for 50 years at their famous old venue.

With seven defeats from their first 16 games in the league, United’s form has generally been way below what Ten Hag looked like he was building towards at times last season but even worse for the Red Devils will be the way some of the games have been won. While the weekend’s visitors have only beaten one side in the top half this term in Fulham, few of their victories, if any, have been indicative of a style of play or tactical philosophy favoured by Ten Hag.

What should be the real worry for United’s supporters is not the manner of their defeats but the manner of their victories, which are often achieved through a below-par performance and a moment of magic from one of their key men.

The 1-0 win at Burnley, for example, was carved out thanks to a wonderful Goal-of-the-Month contender from captain Bruno Fernandes, while Sheffield United were seen off by a long-distance strike from Diogo Dalot that more often than not wouldn’t have nestled into the top corner.

While Ten Hag arrived at Old Trafford with pedigree having coached Ajax and worked under Pep Guardiola at Bayern Munich, there have been few real signs of what the Dutchman is trying to implement beyond staying in games and hoping for a piece of brilliance. It’s an unsustainable approach.

So while Sunday’s game surely won’t see anything like the frankly remarkable 7-0 evisceration, all the signs are pointing towards another home win.

That, to many, might pose a number of its own concerns, but United are yet to prove they can rise above their season-long mediocrity.

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