Man United vs. Liverpool: Bitter rivals to lock horns at Old Trafford with plenty on the line

Ahead of Sunday's Premier League match between Liverpool and Manchester United, hear what the Sports Mole team have to say about the upcoming battle.

Matt Law, Football Editor: "Always big games"

It’s got to be, hasn't it? (the biggest game in English football). I think historically down the years, I always enjoyed the United-Arsenal ones, the great Arsenal teams, and recently, it's been a bit of Man City-Liverpool, with the [Jurgen] Klopp, [Pep] Guardiola rivalry.

For me, I think just down the years, everything riding on it, the history of the two clubs in terms of titles and the rivalry. Is there a little bit of gloss taken off it by the fact that they're both comfortable in the top four and they're both probably going to finish there? It's not like Liverpool are going for the league, and United are almost there in terms of the top five.

So, it's not got that massive sort of meaning to the game in that sense, but they're always big games, aren't they? And always ones that I look forward to.

Interestingly, Harry Maguire, after the Brentford game the other night, he mentioned that the overall performances under [Ruben] Amorim haven't been night and day in terms of lots of the game, but in both boxes, United have been a lot better. They've defended their box a lot better, attacked the opposition box a lot better. Their set-piece goals this season are very, very good.

I think it's only Arsenal that have more in the Premier League. Casemiro every game, he seems to get in the box and head one away. Senne Lammens has made a big difference.

I know he was in the team under Amorim, but what he brings to the team in terms of his calmness, you go back to [Andre] Onana and you think about every shot - it felt like was going in. Every time the ball was in the Man United penalty box, you felt like if there was a shot on goal, they were going to concede, but now, Lammens is a real calming presence back there.

Not the flashiest player, not the best goalkeeper in the world, certainly not. There's certainly goalkeepers that are better than him, but in terms of that steady presence and the game, the win over Brentford was a big one, obviously played well.

Brentford missed a lot of chances, didn't they? Igor Thiago missed a hatful in that game, but it was a big win and going into this game, not much pressure in terms of the top four, because they're so, so close. Even if they lose this game and they lose the next one, you'd still expect them to get there, even if they lost all four.

I think United have only won three of the last 19 Premier League games against Liverpool, which is dreadful, really, isn't it? I would potentially be leaning towards a draw in this match just to be a little bit cautious.

I don't think United lose this game. Liverpool have got big performances in them, we know that. They've had their struggles this season, but they're still a top quality team with top quality players all over the pitch.

So I wouldn't be going in expecting United to steamroll Liverpool or the other way around, but I think it'd be very, very close. Maybe just United, but my head is maybe saying a draw and I think both teams, to be honest, would take that, wouldn't they?

Ben Knapton, Site Coordinator: "A really fascinating situation for both teams"

It's a really fascinating situation for both teams. I remember pundits, fans, everyone saying, ok, Liverpool spent all this money. They're going to steamroll their way to the title easily.

City and Arsenal are going to be nowhere near them. So, you know, they haven't lived up to expectations this season. That is the simple truth, but to get third place and their form is looking a lot better just in the Premier League.

"That's now three wins in a row after the Crystal Palace success. Even after that, I still saw quite a few Liverpool fans saying, it's a win, it's a third win in a row, but the performances still just aren't good enough as a whole.

I do think that [Arne] Slot is getting slightly unfair criticism. Like you say, he gets a title win, then third place given, obviously, there was lots of money spent in the summer, but then the obvious negatives of the summer as well. So taking all those into account.

But the big one for this weekend, of course, is no Mohamed Salah against his favourite opponent. He's got 16 goals, eight assists from 18 games against United. Just ridiculous numbers.

We know how much he loves playing at Old Trafford as well, but Liverpool did put out their statement last night saying that he should be back before the end of the season - it's a minor muscular injury.

Interestingly, the Egypt team doctor said it's looking likely to be four weeks. Liverpool didn't put a timeframe on that. I'm really curious to see what Slot has to say, if he gives a timeframe or not, because he's inevitably going to be asked about that in his press conference.

So we'll see what he says there. But then you think this weekend, what can Liverpool do to replace him? Either you stick [Jeremie] Frimpong on the right wing, but he's not really settled this season. [Federico] Chiesa, not settled for the past two years.

Or you play [Rio] Ngumoha or [Cody] Gakpo on the right, then have [Florian] Wirtz in the middle, the other on the left. It's a really fascinating one for Slot to solve, and I'm interested to see how he does solve it.

So United will secure it if they win. Simple as that. If they beat Liverpool, then they're into the Champions League, but also because they are 11 points clear of Brighton in sixth, if they draw and Brighton fail to beat Newcastle, then that's also enough.

They could also lose and get UCL if Brighton and Bournemouth both fail to win this weekend, and for Liverpool, it's a bit more complicated because firstly, they need to win, then they'll draw 11 points with Man United, and then they also need Brighton and Bournemouth not to win.

Oliver Thomas, Senior Reporter: "A tight one to call"

I think it's a tight one to call, of course. As mentioned there about Champions League football, it can be secured with wins potentially in this game.

United-Liverpool, massive game in English football. I think you could argue maybe United, over the course of the season, have a slightly better season now than Liverpool, considering where United were at the start of the season, the poor form under [Ruben] Amorim, they sacked Amorim and that's why they were so poor, they had to change their manager.

So United have come a long way in a short space of time under Carrick, and not everyone was convinced that they would secure Champions League football, and now they could clinch it with a couple of games to spare. So credit deserves to go to Carrick, and some credit deserves to go to Slot as well for turning Liverpool's fortunes around in recent weeks when a lot of pressure has been on his shoulders. An interesting game for sure, as these games always are.

A tight one to call, I think if I had to predict a winner, I might just edge United at home on this occasion, but it should be a tight game. It almost gets forgotten about that Man United finished 15th last season, and now up to third. I think they lost 18 league games last season, and seven this season.

So whatever way you slice it, massive, massive improvement from Man United. It's been a much better season than I think a lot of fans would have feared for them, and a win over Liverpool would just be the icing on the cake for that, and to secure that Champions League spot once and for all.