With the aim of ruining their opponents' quadruple fantasy after failing in their pursuit of such stardom last term, Liverpool host old adversaries Manchester United in Sunday's tantalising Premier League battle at Anfield.
Jurgen Klopp's crop are slowly but surely entering the top-four conversation thanks to a solid run of domestic results, with a 2-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Wednesday lifting them into sixth place in the Premier League table and cutting the gap to fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur - who have played a game more - down to six points.
Meanwhile, the Red Devils have won the EFL Cup, knocked Barcelona out of the Europa League and made the FA Cup quarter-finals since their last game in the Premier League, where they currently occupy the third and final podium spot in the rankings.
A first Premier League double over Liverpool could come the way of Man United, who downed the Reds 2-1 at Old Trafford earlier this season, but not since January 2016 have Man United won a Premier League contest in front of an intimidating Anfield crowd.
With key players gearing up to perform and other big names watching on from the infirmary, Sports Mole takes on the thankless task of picking a combined XI from both squads, using only players expected to be available for the showdown.
When defensive lapses rear their ugly heads, Alisson Becker and David de Gea can empathise with one another when it comes to saving their sides' bacon with heroic last-ditch stops. De Gea can boast one more Premier League clean sheet than Alisson's nine this term, and the Liverpool number one has been more prone to uncharacteristic errors in recent months, but we still give the edge to the Brazilian, whose spectacular saves have been a major helping hand in the Reds' underwhelming periods.
Man United duo Diogo Dalot and Aaron Wan-Bissaka have both been handed bountiful opportunities to impress Erik ten Hag this season - and to their credit, they have taken a fair few of them - while a big question mark will always hang over the head of Trent Alexander-Arnold's defensive capabilities. However, the Englishman can expect to hold his spot as Liverpool's number one right-back for a number of years and is a consistent menace going forward, so gets the nod for us. Andrew Robertson would undoubtedly join him had he continued to perform in the same vein, but the Scotsman has been overshadowed this season by Luke Shaw, whose injury woes are now a thing of the past as he keeps Tyrell Malacia at bay with consistently strong showings.
In the heart of the backline, Lisandro Martinez and his 5ft 9in frame have adapted to life in the Premier League with aplomb following a few weeks of scepticism and struggles at the start of the year, and the Argentine World Cup winner - who boasts a pass completion rate of 87.2% this season - walks his way into our XI. Alongside him is the unmistakeable presence of Virgil van Dijk - a member of the FIFA FIFPRO Men's World XI - who can expect a proper physical battle with Wout Weghorst this weekend, but 2.4 aerials won per game will benefit him to no end in that regard, and the Dutchman's inclusion leaves Ibrahima Konate and Raphael Varane on the bench as honourable mentions.
With both of Christian Eriksen and Thiago Alcantara missing Sunday's game due to injury, two Brazilian stalwarts form the fearsome base of our midfield, where Casemiro was the first name on the teamsheet. An astute piece of summer business from the Red Devils, the five-time Champions League winner averages 3.2 tackles per game for the Red Devils and has threatened in the final third with two goals and three assists in league action. Beating out Fred, Marcel Sabitzer, Jordan Henderson and Stefan Bajcetic to the second spot is Fabinho, who is beginning to look more like his old self in recent matches following a troubled start to the campaign, and the Liverpool lynchpin will be tasked with quelling the creative influence of our number 10.
Taking over as skipper while club captain Harry Maguire remains consigned to the fringes, Bruno Fernandes has racked up a whopping 119 shot-creating actions in the Premier League this season - second only to Kevin De Bruyne domestically and third behind the Belgian and Lionel Messi in the big five European leagues - and the Portuguese was a comfortable selection over link-up specialist Roberto Firmino, who is now reportedly set to leave Liverpool when his deal expires this summer.
However, the hosts are still well-represented in our attack. A 20-goal season for Mohamed Salah being classed as underwhelming typifies the extremely high standards that are expected of him, and a goal on Sunday would see him equal Robbie Fowler's all-time record of 128 Premier League goals for the Reds. Meanwhile, Darwin Nunez - who controversially had a goal ruled out against Wolverhampton Wanderers - is starting to justify his price tag and will relish the opportunity to stretch the Man United backline with his explosive pace, and he beats Cody Gakpo, Diogo Jota, Weghorst and the injured Anthony Martial to the number nine role.
Nunez is thriving on the left-hand side of Liverpool's attack, but that spot was reserved for Man United's re-energised talisman. Even Klopp - who normally finds it "impossible" to feel happy for Man United - could not hide his joy at seeing Marcus Rashford rediscover his clinical best, which has allowed him to rack up 14 Premier League goals and 25 goals in all tournaments this term. Having netted in each of his last five Premier League games, Rashford could join an elite crowd by doing so six times in a row this weekend - only Cristiano Ronaldo, Eric Cantona and Ruud van Nistelrooy have previously done so for the Red Devils.
Read more on Liverpool vs Manchester United
- Marcus Rashford's record vs. Liverpool
- Click here to read our full preview for Liverpool vs Manchester United
- How Liverpool could line up against Man United
- How Man United could line up against Liverpool
- Liverpool vs. Manchester United head-to-head record
Ben Knapton
