The Battle of M62

As we reach ever closer to the 172nd installment of the fixture, the gap between the two clubs seems to be drifting further away, with Manchester United seemingly going through a transition period and Liverpool flourishing under Jurgen Klopp. While this seems to be a straightforward fixture for Liverpool, if history has taught us anything, it indicates that current form is less culpable when this fixture comes around.

If we go back to the start of the Premier League in 1992, this was really the start of Manchester United’s dominance within the English game by winning the title by 10 points over Aston Villa and that dominance continued with United going on to win 13 league titles over the next 20 seasons. As previously mentioned The Red Devil’s are currently going through a transitional period under the helm of club legend Ole Gunner Solskjaer, and currently they are sitting in 12th place, only winning 2 of the first 8 games this season. The major signings during this pre-season, likes of Harry Maguire and Aaron Wan-Bissaka would’ve hoped to have had a better start than they have had, but a win over Liverpool would be a massive kick-start to their season and push to make it into the top 4 to reach Champions League football.

This away game for Liverpool will be their biggest test to date this season, as Liverpool are on a winning streak going back to the last season of 17 straight games, sitting top of the table by 8 points over Manchester City.
Based on that, the neutral would expect Liverpool to go to Old Trafford and walk out with 3 points and move on, however history tells us it’s not that easy. If we just look back to the beginning of the Premier League era there’s been 54 games between them and United edge the wins column with 28 wins to Liverpool’s 14 with 12 draws, so the past is most definitely on the side of the Manchester club and they will be very much up for ending Liverpool’s streak and handing their City rivals a helping hand in the race for the title.

Liverpool have come very close to winning the Premier League in recent years, most recently in the 18/19 season when they lost out to Manchester City by a single point. This year, they seem to have a more steelier determination to Klopp’s outfit with the current European Champions using less of the gung-ho style football and the more “ugly” wins against the likes of Leicester City, Sheffield United and Southampton.

This game on Sunday is going to be massive for both sides for very different reasons. Manchester United, needing to win to get their season back on track and fight to get towards the top end of the table, whereas Liverpool who are sitting at the top will be looking to break the win streak record of 18 games at Old Trafford.

So when Martin Atkinson blows the whistle to kick off this grand affair on Sunday afternoon, be prepared for excitement and tension, as rarely these sides disappoint when faced against one another.

Lee Spilling.