TEAM NEWS Manchester United full-back Rafael is available despite being taking a kick on the ankle at West Brom last weekend. Nani is fit after recovering from a hamstring problem, while Jonny Evans and Javier Hernandez may also feature. Liverpool duo Mamadou Sakho and Lucas may be available after making their comeback from injury for the Reds development side. However, the visitors remain without injured full-back Jose Enrique, who has a knee problem. MATCH PREVIEW Is Manchester Uniteds 20-year run in the Champions League about to end? On the basis of this fixture on Sunday lunchtime, Liverpool are the top-four side United will feel they are most likely to catch. If they win, United would be eight points behind Brendan Rodgers team with nine games to go - tough but not impossible. If they draw, United would still be 11 adrift. Lose and the gap would stretch to an insurmountable 14 points. Defensively Manchester United are poor. Can they stop Liverpools attack? I dont think so. The great thing from Liverpools point of view is that they are so good on the break - they can counter-attack with pace and, if they play well, I see them winning comfortably. United will find encouragement in their League Cup win over the same opposition back in September, and in the six consecutive defeats they have inflicted on Liverpool at Old Trafford in the last five years. Of course, Uniteds other route to Europes top table would be to win the Champions League. Next Wednesdays task of repairing the damage done in their awful display against Olympiakos will be in the back of their minds, but Lisbon in May seems a very long way away. Bringing in Juan Mata, agreeing Wayne Rooneys new deal and Robin van Persies apparent willingness to follow suit all suggest that no expense will be spared in supporting Moyes. Theres every reason to think that United will be real contenders again next season, but for now their great rivals have a momentum which Uniteds season has lacked almost from the first week. Liverpool have not kicked a ball in anger since winning at Southampton a fortnight ago. Playing only once a week has been a major advantage for them, but not playing enough can bring its own difficulties. At least theyve had time to work on defending, which still threatens to be their Achilles heel. Individual errors by experienced central defenders have been all too frequent, but one of their problems has been the loss of the underestimated Lucas in front of that back four; the Brazilians return to fitness could not have been better timed. Liverpool have won their last two away, their first consecutive wins on the road all season. If they can make it three then a top-four finish will be the least of their ambitions. MATCH FACTS Head-to-head Manchester United have won their last six home games against Liverpool in league and cup - all by a single-goal margin (3-2, 2-1 or 1-0). Only two of the last 27 league clashes between the sides have ended in a draw. The last time the sides shared the points at Old Trafford was in March 2000. Liverpools 4-1 win at Old Trafford in March 2009 is their only win there in almost 10 years. This fixture has produced 14 Premier League red cards - Everton against Liverpool (20) is the only game with a higher total. Manchester United The Red Devils have kept clean sheets in their previous three league games and in four of their last six. They have netted 18 times in their 14 home league games this season. Tottenham (16 goals) are the only side in the top half of the table with a lower tally. Against West Brom, Wayne Rooney became the first player to reach double figures for both goals and assists in five different Premier League seasons. He has now scored or assisted 252 goals in the top flight. Robin van Persie is set to make his 250th Premier League appearance. He has scored six times in his last seven league starts against Liverpool. Liverpool The Reds are unbeaten in nine league games, winning seven of those matches. They are chasing a fifth successive league win. The last time they won five in a row was in September, when the fifth match in that sequence (which included the final two games of the 2012-13 season) was a 1-0 victory against Manchester United. The last time Liverpool recorded five successive victories during a single season was at the end of the 2008-09 campaign. Liverpools tally of 73 goals is the most by a team after 28 games of a Premier League season. It is more than the Reds have managed in any other complete Premier League season, bar their 2008-09 campaign, when they netted 77 times. bbc
Posted on: Sun, 16 Mar 2014 10:45:00 +0000
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