Good evening and welcome to Sports Mole's live text coverage of the Premier League clash between Manchester United and Liverpool!

Well folks, what can I say? This is arguably the biggest fixture in English football, a real grudge match between two sides who, for decades, have contested league championships, domestic cups and even European tournaments.

Between them, Liverpool and Man Utd have won a total of 87 major trophies, and fixtures between the two are always fiercely contested on the pitch and in the stands, two North West giants of the game fighting it out for local pride, bragging rights, and silverware.

Tonight, as is almost always the case, it is more than just local pride at stake, as both teams harbour serious ambitions to win the Premier League this season - and the result could spur one of the two sides on, or drain their confidence in one fell swoop. No pressure, then.

As things stand going into tonight's game, Liverpool are the side with more at stake - they can go top of the Premier League, leapfrogging Arsenal and Manchester City, if they beat their bitter rivals by three or more goals.

Jurgen Klopp's men sit fourth ahead of the high-profile clash, three points behind leaders Man City, and have already beaten Arsenal, Chelsea and Leicester City this term - they can secure their fifth league win on the spin tonight against Jose Mourinho's side.

United's recent record against Liverpool, however, is very positive, winning the last four league meetings between the teams. They were also the last visiting team in the Premier League to win and keep a clean sheet at Anfield with their 1-0 victory in January.

Remember when Man Utd warmed up in a car park prior to their League Cup match against Northampton Town? Mourinho is making his team do the same tonight, getting the squad to limber up outside the Titanic Hotel in Liverpool. Character building, or superstition? Certainly keeps the journos busy...

The Manchester United team warming up in a car park ahead of tonight's game. pic.twitter.com/VXFwDTolgl — Transfer Related (@TransferRelated) 17 October 2016

The Red Devils ended up winning their clash at Sixfields that night, which came at a time when their form was floundering, and with the side having won only once in their last four league games - conceding seven goals in the process - perhaps the Special One is hoping to conjure up a similar outcome (although Liverpool are arguably a different proposition to Northampton Town...).

Official team news are expected to come around 7pm, but in terms of provisional updates on the men who will be lining up tonight, Adam Lallana and Georginio Wijnaldum are set to miss out for Liverpool, while Phil Jones is the only Man Utd player sidelined in an otherwise fully fit away squad.

As for the maybes, Liverpool defenders Nathaniel Clyne and Dejan Lovren are back in contention and fit-again Emre Can could make a first league start of the season, while for United, midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan and defender Luke Shaw are fit again after overcoming injuries.

No doubt tonight's official match programme will sell well - the cover features the high-flying Roberto Firmino, who has found the net four times in his last six games.

#LFCvMUFC - tonight's official programme cover 🙌 pic.twitter.com/ZcN5RHSTQk — Liverpool FC (@LFC) 17 October 2016

Now let's look at the two men in the dugout - Jurgen Klopp and Jose Mourinho will meet for the sixth time tonight.

The pair met four times as managers of Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund respectively in the 2012-13 Champions League season, and once in the Premier League with Klopp at the Liverpool helm and Mourinho still at Chelsea - the result at Stamford Bridge in October last year was a 3-1 win for the Reds.

Mourinho is no stranger to facing Liverpool, however - he has beaten the Reds more often than any other club during his career, with 11 wins in 23 games.

Klopp holds the advantage over his United counterpart with three victories compared to Mourinho's one, but in a bid to play down any animosity rumours, the German has stressed that the result at Anfield will be determined by the players on the field rather than the managers in the dugout.

In a lengthy interview with LFC TV, Klopp said: "I've said before it's not Mourinho against Klopp - that would make the game much easier. He is a very successful and very experienced colleague. We had a few talks before the games, especially against Real Madrid. It was always difficult, because he always has good teams behind him I would say. (It's) always a big challenge and that's how it is this time. This is Liverpool against United, two good sides. We are in the race for three points and that's the only thing I need."

Very diplomatic talk from Klopp... now, what was Mourinho's pre-match talk like? It went a little something like this: "I'm on the touchline to try to coach, I'm not on the touchline to..." (begins flailing arms in the air like he's at a festival or something).

So the Anfield gates opened around 15 minutes ago and there are already fans taking their seats. The atmosphere tonight will be absolutely electric - will Klopp remain as diplomatic deep into the game with tackles flying and Mourinho, well, being Mourinho? We'll wait and see shall we?

That said, the two sides met four times last season - in the Premier League and Europa League - and not a single player was sent off. Quite a rarity, in all honesty.

BREAKING NEWS: The teams have been announced. Here goes...

LIVERPOOL STARTING XI: Karius, Clyne, Matip, Lovren, Milner, Henderson, Can, Coutinho, Firmino, Mane, Sturridge

MAN UTD STARTING XI: De Gea, Valencia, Bailly, Smalling, Blind, Fellaini, Pogba, Rashford, Herrera, Young, Ibrahimovic

LIVERPOOL SUBS: Mignolet, Moreno, Klavan, Lucas, Grujic, Lallana, Origi

MAN UTD SUBS: Romero, Rojo, Shaw, Carrick, Lingard, Mata, Rooney

As expected, Adam Lallana and Georginio Wijnaldum are not in the starting XI, but the former is actually fit enough to make the subs' bench - his place is taken by Emre Can. The latter misses out altogether and is replaced by Daniel Sturridge.

As for the visitors, they also see two changes as Mourinho opts to relegate Juan Mata and Jesse Lingard to the bench, their places taken by Ashley Young and Marouane Fellaini in the Red Devils' starting XI. Once again, Wayne Rooney is named among the subs.

It's a strong attacking setup from Klopp, with Philippe Coutinho breaking to support Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Sturridge. Loris Karius, meanwhile, lines up in goal, with Simon Mignolet on the bench.

For Man Utd, Daley Blind is moved out wide to accommodate both Eric Bailly and Chris Smalling, while Marcus Rashford - a big-game player if ever there was one - makes up the front three with Young and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Gary Neville, an individual not exactly known for his love of Liverpool, has actually expressed fear over how his Man Utd side will fare at Anfield tonight. He told Sky Sports News: "Liverpool scare me a little bit. I never thought at the start of the season I'd even be thinking about them as title contenders, but watching them at Arsenal and Chelsea, when you win away at those two grounds you become potential title contenders or even favourites for the title. If they can win tonight they'll have so much confidence, they've got free runs week in week out without Europe. They are a far bigger threat than they were at the start of the season and Jose Mourinho and United have to dent that tonight."

There seems to be genuine dismay over how United are shaping up at this moment in time. Paul Scholes, another club legend, is doubtful of Mourinho's credentials as Red Devils boss. He told BBC Sport: "Mourinho was not ruthless enough in the off-season. There is so much confusion about who should play. What I saw of Mourinho at Chelsea, he had 13 or 14 players who played every week. He never rested players even in the League Cup or whatever competition he was in. If you were betting, you would be betting on Liverpool."

Liverpool are already warming up on the pitch, while Man Utd have just come out in their training kits - cue boos from the Anfield faithful.

Want to have a look inside Man Utd's dressing room at Anfield? Their Twitter page is more than happy to oblige.

Let's go inside the #MUFC dressing room with #MUTVHD... #LIVMUN https://t.co/wV6jRlkQGx

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) 17 October 2016

United have also confirmed that Anthony Martial and Morgan Schneiderlin are missing tonight's game because they suffered injuries in training on Saturday. If anyone was curious...

Just 30 minutes now until the showpiece of Red Monday gets underway. Biggest fixture in English football - not long to go now!

So many things have been under scrutiny ahead of kickoff - even the choice of referee has generated column inches and social media interest. Anthony Taylor, the man selected for the job, is from Wythenshawe in Greater Manchester and supports non-league club Altrincham, but has no ties with United.

The appointment has raised eyebrows among some Liverpool fans, but the Manchester Evening News published an article going over the statistics, and claims that Taylor has refereed more wins for Liverpool and awarded them more penalties than any other team in his officiating career.

And then we have Mourinho's comments about the appointment, claiming that "somebody with intention is putting such a pressure on him that I feel that it will be difficult for him to have a very good performance."

For the record, managers and players are not allowed to make any comments which could be viewed as intimidating or influential about the appointed match officials before a game, in light of rules introduced in 2009. There is a chance that the FA will speak to Mourinho over his comments.

Reports have emerged of Eric Bailly having suffered an injury scare in the warm-up - he appears to have had lengthy treatment on his left thigh and does not look happy.

And for the superstitious among you, a black cat has just run onto the Anfield pitch.

Ashley Young's inclusion in the Man Utd starting XI has raised a few eyebrows, but Mourinho is standing by his decision, telling reporters: "Young is one of the many players who has to play from the sides, big occasion,experienced player who is comfortable with the game. Everytime he plays for us he is doing our job well, he has missed only one training session since beginning of July. He has played enough minutes to give us the confidence in him for this game."

A lot of eyes all around the world on this game with just 10 minutes until kickoff!

Big game tonight!! Let's go @LFC !!🙌🏻⚽️💪🏻

— Caroline Wozniacki (@CaroWozniacki) 17 October 2016

PREDICTION TIME! Now it's time for me to have a stab at predicting tonight's result. Now, my record over the last couple of months hasn't been the best, so please do not look too much into it, but I think that the teams will be very evenly matched on the pitch - my guess is 1-1, Firmino to open the scoring in the first half, Zlatan to equalise midway through the second half, and at least six yellows, one sending off, and Mourinho sent to the stands.

(Wonder how much that would fetch me on Request a Bet?)

Bailly jogged back to the changing rooms along with the other United players, so as things stand, he *should* be alright to play.

You'll Never Walk Alone is now belting out, with the Liverpool fans singing along loudly. The hosts are in red, the visitors in blue.

Man United to get us underway...

KICKOFF! The visitors get proceedings underway! Here we go folks!

Rashford clatters into Milner on the halfway line - that could have been worthy of a booking, but the ref has let it slide.

Valencia plays in Rashford down the right, who in turn tries to get the better of Lovren, but ends up running the ball out of play.

Matip brings Pogba down about 40 yards out and Ibrahimovic elects to take the resulting free kick, but the Swede skews it high into the stands. Cue cheers from the Liverpool fans.

Coutinho dispossesses Valencia with a tackle and plays the ball to the feet of Firmino. The 25-year-old then cuts in from the left and crosses towards Sturridge, but Smalling is well placed to head the ball away.

Liverpool starting to put United under a bit of pressure, but Milner's pass up the left flank is too heavy for Firmino and Bailly shepherds the ball out of play.

The visitors are swift to get the ball up the other end and Ibrahimovic wins a free kick from Lovren about 40 yards out. Young lofts a ball to the back post, but the move is thwarted as Fellaini strays offside.

Pogba tries to get himself onto the ball but Henderson gets a good tackle in to snuff out the danger. A very intense opening to this game.

CHANCE! Pogba, who is yet to really get into the action, finds space about 35 yards out and decides to let rip with an effort, but it blazes well over. More sarcastic cheers from the home fans, with Rashford in acres of space out on the right.

Valencia plays in Pogba, who then picks out Ibrahimovic in space about 25 yards out - the big man tries his luck with a first-time shot from range but it deflects off Matip and Karius makes an easy save.

Bailly, who had an injury scare in the warm-up, puts in a top tackle on the advancing Firmino and steals the ball. Herrera then wins a free kick from Coutinho a few seconds later up the other end.

United are dominating possession at the minute and appear very comfortable in doing so. Herrera sprays the ball out wide to Rashford but a lapse in concentration sees it slip under the teenager's foot and out for a throw.

Now it's Liverpool who get the ball back and are eager to make possession count - Can finds space about 25 yards out and goes for goal from distance, but the outcome, like every other long-ranger so far in this game, sees the ball sail over the bar.

Rashford, who has had a mixed game so far, skins Milner down the right and whips a low cross into the six-yard box, but Reds stopper Karius palms the ball away with Ibrahimovic lurking in the box.

Anthony Taylor lets another challenge go as Herrera hacks Mane down and the Liverpool fans demand a booking, but nothing is awarded.

United have done a good job of stifling Liverpool, who cannot get out of their half at the moment. Just what Mourinho wanted?

CHANCE! Spoken too soon perhaps as Liverpool maraud forward, the ball falling to Henderson out wide. He swings it to the back post, where Firmino blasts a header towards goal, but it's perfectly positioned for De Gea to catch.

It's getting increasingly physical as Valencia fouls Milner before Herrera gets involved and trips Coutinho - referee Taylor steps in and calms everybody down as the fans' voices get ever louder.

Ibrahimovic hooks a ball over the top for Pogba to chase but Karius reads it well and gets to it first.

Liverpool win the first corner of what has been an uneventful first half so far, which Henderson takes, but Ibrahimovic leaps and heads the ball away from danger.

Coutinho charges down the left flank but his low cross can't quite find Sturridge and the ball is cleared. Liverpool beginning find momentum here.

United are dropping deeper and deeper as Mane breaks down the right and attempts a backheel into the box, but Herrera is there to clear.

The hosts have had the vast majority of the play in the last 10 minutes and they try and pick the United lock again, with Matip trying a one-two with Sturridge, but Smalling deals with the danger.

Apparently a Norwegian channel has broadcasted 12 hours of build-up prior to the game. Based on the action, they might be wondering if it was a bit unnecessary...

BOOKING: We have the first yellow card of the game as Bailly fouls Sturridge about 30 yards out. Coutinho stands over the free kick but curls it straight at De Gea.

BOOKING: A second Man Utd player sees yellow as Young is punished for dissent after confronting the ref for not booking Henderson, who had tackled Herrera.

Chances have been few and far between at Anfield between two of the most famous club sides in the world. The action has been concentrated around midfield. It's been scrappy and tight - which one would argue is just how Mourinho would have wanted it.

United were the better side in the opening stages, but Liverpool gradually improved and had their rivals on the ropes. However, the Red Devils boss would have wanted to keep things tight in the first half, bearing in mind how strong the Merseysiders are on the attack, so he will surely been happy with how it's gone in terms of restricting the Reds offensive, and will look to step it up after the restart.

2 - Liverpool have managed just two shots so far, their joint-lowest total in the first half of a PL home game (since 2003-04). Subdued.

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) 17 October 2016

The draw for the first round of the FA Cup has taken place this evening - read more about it here.

There hasn't been a draw between Liverpool and Man United domestically since a 1-1 league result at Anfield in October 2011 - there is hope for a goal from somewhere then.

KICKOFF: Back underway as neither side makes any changes.

United with the early forays as Valencia charges down the right and sends a cross into the box which Matip clears, but only as far as Fellaini, who in turn is unable to do much with the ball and Liverpool thwart the danger.

Now it's the hosts' turn to threaten, with Coutinho playing in Firmino down the left. The latter tries to find Clyne with a probing cross, but Young is there to hack away on the edge of the six-yard box.

A let-off for Karius as he tries to get the ball to Lovren but messes up and finds Pogba instead! The Frenchman dithers, though, with the keeper out of position, and his pass to Ibrahimovic ends in an offside call.

More sterling work from Herrera as he comes across to deny Mane after he got the better of Bailly, and moments later, the Spaniard manages to scoop a clever pass into the area for Ibrahimovic, who should have done better.

CHANCE! And that's the best chance of the game so far - haven't had much to work with, granted - as Pogba puts over a pinpoint cross from the right towards the back post, Ibrahimovic peels past his marker but heads wide from eight yards out!

Mane tries to break through the United back line but slips and falls before Coutinho reclaims possession and is brought down by Herrera.

CHANCE! Now we're talking! Can marauds through the middle and, despite being stifled by several United bodies, forces a shot which goes through Smalling's legs, but De Gea dives low and gets his hands onto the ball!

SUBSTITUTION: First change of the night as Daniel Sturridge comes off on the hour and Adam Lallana, whose inclusion in the matchday squad was a surprise, is subbed on.

CHANCE! The substitute makes an immediate impact as he plays a quick one-two with Coutinho and lets rip from 20 yards out. The effort goes wide, but Lallana's injection of energy and flair can be seen from the off.

Liverpool just beginning to build a bit of momentum now that Lallana is on the field - he goes on to win his side a corner...

Nothing comes of the set piece as Milner's ball is cleared by Bailly and Smalling wins a free kick, but since Zlatan's effort, it's been all Liverpool.

It's gone scrappy again as United try to re-establish momentum, Ibrahimovic is trying to move the ball to the flanks, while a Rashford cross comes to nothing and then Blind concedes a free-kick. Not much happening at the minute - Milner and Pogba have clattered into one another but seem fine to continue.

CHANCE! When the game needs a spark of class, Coutinho tends to be the man who provides it, and he comes so close to opening the scoring! He strikes the ball from 30 yards out, clean as a whistle and heading for the top corner, but De Gea flings himself across his goal and makes an acrobatic right-handed save!

Blind slips and gifts possession to Mane, who bolts down the right. He has Firmino in support but his pass is cut out by Bailly - good job he wasn't ruled out following that scare in training, could have a different game otherwise, he's been immense.

SUBSTITUTION: Prolonged boos ring around Anfield which can signify plenty of things really when United are in town, but in this case, it's former Evertonian Wayne Rooney coming on in place of Marcus Rashford. The first change of the night for the visitors.

Moments earlier Lallana had nearly unlocked United again as he slipped the ball to Firmino, leaving Blind beaten, but the linesman's flag cut short the attack.

So we've got about 10 minutes left plus stoppage time and, despite the tempo increasing a little after the break, it really looks like it will end goalless, unless we have a moment of magic. As I type, United win their first corner - yep, this late on in the game...

Watch him get a 91st minute winner...

17 - Wayne Rooney hasn't scored in any of his last 17 sub apps in the PL, last scoring from the bench in Feb 2009 against Fulham. Roll. — OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) 17 October 2016

Truth be told, Rooney appears sluggish. Milner is easily able to get in behind him - playing at wingback, it seems - and sends a cross into the middle, but it misses everyone and the visitors clear at the back.

CHANCE! Sort of... it would have been a chance were it not for a crucially important last-ditch tackle from Valencia, who bailed his side out after Coutinho put Firmino through on goal with a defence-splitting pass!

SUBSTITUTIONS: Once last throw of the dice for Klopp as he takes off James Milner and Roberto Firmino and brings on Alberto Moreno and Divock Origi. Can they conjure something up in the last few minutes?

Young breaks down the left flank, shifts the ball onto his right foot and tries a cross, but it's blocked. Coming up to injury time and I would be very surprised if we had a winning goal now, looks like things are petering out.

BOOKING: Ibrahimovic earns himself a yellow card for a late nudge on Can.

Three minutes added on here... can't come soon enough.

BOOKING: Now Fellaini goes into the book as he kicks away the ball after a foul had been awarded.

SUBSTITUTION: One last change for United as Ashley Young is replaced by Luke Shaw.

Liverpool drop points at home for the first time this season as Manchester United come to Anfield and claim a goalless draw. You can't deny that Jose Mourinho has done a job at the home of his biggest rivals, claiming a point against an in-form side at their patch, but it's not going to go down in the classics scrapbook, is it?

That's all we have time for here at Anfield but thank you for sticking with Sports Mole and stay tuned as we have a match report and reaction coming up - thank you for your time and enjoy the rest of your evening.