Arne Slot’s short time at Liverpool has proved successful so far, with the Reds sitting clear at the top of the Premier League table.
Ruben Amorim’s side travel to Anfield having lost five of their last sixth league matches, and currently sit 14th in the Premier League table, seven points above the relegation zone.
With Liverpool having served Manchester United some humiliating scorelines in recent years, here is how Liverpool can crush Manchester United on Sunday.
The Ruben Amorim factor
Something Liverpool can seek to exploit is the unfamiliarity that still exists between Ruben Amorim and his new job as Manchester United manager.
The Portuguese has only taken charge of eight Premier League matches during his time at Old Trafford.
There is a school of thought that suggests that Amorim will be unwilling to sit back and try to eek out a point at Anfield because of how new he is, unlike his predecessor.
Though under-fire at the time, Erik ten Hag led Manchester United to a 0-0 draw in L4 last season in a game that many expected Liverpool to win.
Ten Hag’s unwillingness to attack and thus leave spaces for Liverpool’s attack, culminated in a frustrating outing for the Reds.
Liverpool and Manchester United gulf
What ages worse than turkey left in the fridge for a week after your Christmas dinner? Answer, an aging midfield.
Manchester United’s midfield has gone from bad to worse this season.
Amorim fielded a two-man midfield against Newcastle United, consisting of Casemiro and Christian Eriksen, two of arguably the most immobile midfielders in the league.
The shining light of Manchester United’s midfield last season, Kobbie Mainoo, has had a tougher campaign, arguably because of such a large burden being placed on the young footballer.
A problem with the Manchester United team is the strange distribution of physicality in almost every area of the pitch.
The Red Devils have the slightly diminutive Andre Onana in goal, the less than diminutive Lisandro Martinez at centre-back, and the large turning circles of Mathijs de Ligt and Harry Maguire alongside him, with the oddly tall Joshua Zirkzee up front.
It is not difficult to imagine a world where Virgil van Dijk can fend off Zirkzee by himself, and Lisandro Martinez can’t cope with the ball over his head to Mo Salah.
Take away the names of the teams, the ground, the history, the ways the game can be played.
Strip it all down to this one simple fact, first hosts fourteenth in the Premier League table. Think about that.
It is the equivalent of Manchester City hosting Wolverhampton Wanderers on the final day of last season, of Liverpool hosting Crystal Palace at the end of their title-winning season, it is no different.
Liverpool have a 23-point lead on Manchester United’s measly 22 points tally, and a game in hand. The gap is enormous and has been growing in recent weeks.
Gone are the days of Beckham, of Rooney and of Ferguson. It is not to say Manchester United can’t get anything out of this game, but the odds are stacked massively in Liverpool’s favour.
Arne Slot and Ruben Amorim systemic changes
Under Arne Slot, Liverpool have begun to exercise control throughout games, and kiss goodbye to the end-to-end chaos that engulfed a lot of games last season.
Even through setbacks, the frequent conceding first (which has not changed), Liverpool have remained level-headed and confident, unflustered since Nottingham Forest in September.
Liverpool have adapted really well to Slot’s tactical tweaks, the stability that two at the base of the midfield grants you, and the freedom, the key to every defence that Mo Salah has been given.
Contrast this with the fresh chaos that has beset Manchester United since Amorim’s arrival.
A team that looked out of sorts in ten Hag’s 4-2-3-1, now look of out of ideas and out of their comfort zone in Amorim’s 3-4-2-1.
The momentary indecision that this can cause you, coupled with ten years of rot, really does not bode well for a football team trying to win games of football.
Against Newcastle, Amad Diallo, the great hope of this Manchester United team, could not find his place. The Dalot, Mazraoui situation at full-back/wing-back has only got weirder since ten Hag departed.
Make no mistake, this is probably not the big test for Liverpool. That likely comes when we face off against the second-best Reds again at the City Ground in a couple of weeks.
A win on Sunday would make a great sidenote in a book about Arne Slot keeping us on our perch.