Mohamed Salah aiming to continue incredible Liverpool form against favourite opponent Man United – kick-off time, predicted line-ups and how to follow

Premier League leaders Liverpool welcome Manchester United to Anfield this weekend looking to maintain their incredible form.

Arne Slot’s side are cruising and boast a six-point lead at the top of the table heading into this game, with a game in hand too. 

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After a 5-0 win away at West Ham, the Reds now host rivals Man United who are currently going in the complete opposite direction at the moment. 

Life under Ruben Amorim has not started in the way the club would have wanted, and after four straight losses, the Red Devils are down in 14th. 

It leaves these two enemies heading into this huge clash with one clear favourite and there’s no doubt Slot will have his men well up for the occasion. 

Liverpool vs Man United: No stopping Salah

Is Mohamed Salah the best player in the world right now?  

It’s very hard to say otherwise, and he’s showing no signs of stopping. 

After another two assists and a goal against West Ham, Salah now has 30 goal contributions in just 18 Premier League games. 

It is the fifth time he has had 30 goal involvements in a season, the joint most of any player in top-flight history along with Alan Shearer.

The Egyptian has also already set a new record for the most games recording a goal and an assist in a single campaign with eight. 

And he’s now playing against his favourite opponent in Man United, so he could be set to increase that record.

Salah has both scored more goals (12) and provided more assists (6) against United than any other player in Premier League history.

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• Liverpool have lost just one of their last 13 Premier League games against Manchester United (W7 D5), going down 2-1 at Old Trafford in August 2022.
• Manchester United haven’t won any of their last eight league away games against Liverpool (D4 L4), their longest such run since a run of nine between 1970 and 1979.

Liverpool vs Man United: Predicted line-ups

Liverpool may only feel the need to make one change to their team this weekend. 

And that change will be an enforced one as Joe Gomez is going to be sidelined for the foreseeable future with a hamstring injury. 

Ibrahima Konate is close to returning to fitness but this game may come too soon, meaning Jarrell Quansah should start at centre-back. 

Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister will certainly start in midfield along with one of Curtis Jones or the returning Dominik Szoboszlai. 

Szoboszlai was banned for the West Ham game but could be straight back into the team after impressing so far under Slot. 

In the front three, Salah will of course be on the right as he looks to continue his form. 

The other two positions have been rotated quite often, with Luiz Diaz and Cody Gakpo being preferred to Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota last time out. 

Diaz and Gakpo are expected to keep their places after goals in their last two starts. 

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• This is the first time Liverpool and Manchester United are facing each other in their first league match of a calendar year since 1989, when the Red Devils won 3-1 at Old Trafford on New Year’s Day.
• Liverpool beat Newcastle 4-2 in their first league match of 2024 – the last time they won their opening league game in consecutive calendar years was in 2013/2014.

As for Man United, they will be boosted by the welcome return of Bruno Fernandes. 

Fernandes and Manuel Ugarte were both suspended in United’s loss to Newcastle and they will add some more quality to the midfield. 

Both are expected to come back into the starting line-up, with Ugarte potentially partnering Kobbie Mainoo who was solid off the bench last time out. 

Fernandes will likely be in behind Rasmus Hojlund and next to Amad Diallo. 

Alejandro Garnacho will remain on the bench along with Marcus Rashford who returned to the squad on Sunday but looks set for an exit. 

At wing-back, Noussair Mazraoui and Diogo Dalot will have their hands full while Leny Yoro could come back into the defence. 

Yoro will add some more pace next to Harry Maguire and Lisandro Martinez while Andre Onana remains in goal behind them. 

Mason Mount, Victor Lindelof and Luke Shaw are the three main absentees. 

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• Liverpool have won their last three Premier League matches, scoring 3+ goals in each victory with 14 goals in total. They last had a longer winning run while scoring three or more goals in each win in February/March 2014 (six in a row).
• Manchester United have lost their last three Premier League games. They haven’t lost four league games in a row in the same season since between December and February 1979, while they last suffered four defeats in a row without scoring back in April 1909.

Liverpool vs Man United: What has been said? 

Things turned sour at Old Trafford last time out as United were beaten again. 

While losing to Newcastle, Joshua Zirkzee was substituted in the first half and United fans responded by booing him off the pitch. 

Former Aston Villa striker and talkSPORT host Gabby Agbonlahor believes that the response from supporters was ‘disgusting’. 

Agbonlahor said: “I didn’t like it, I thought it was disgusting from some of the Manchester United fans cheering him coming off.

“He’s a young lad, 23, new signing who hasn’t bedded in yet.

“New signings don’t always come good in the first handful of starts. I just felt sorry for him.”

He added: “I just didn’t like it, it wasn’t nice. There’s no more embarrassment than being taken off in the first half, it’s worse than being a sub who gets subbed.

“Amorim will look back at that and think maybe it was a bit harsh taking him off after 34 minutes.”

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• Following their 3-0 win at Old Trafford in the reverse fixture, Arne Slot could become just the second Liverpool manager to do the league double over Manchester United in his first season with the club, after George Kay in 1936-37.
• Manchester United have scored just one goal in their last eight Premier League away games against Liverpool, failing to score in each of the last five. Only at Everton have they had a longer run without scoring in their league history (6 between 1969 and 1974).

Liverpool vs Man United: How to follow

This Premier League clash will take place on Sunday, January 2. 

Kick-off at Anfield is scheduled for 4:30pm. 

The game will be broadcast live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League. 

Existing customers can watch coverage on TV while fans can sign up to Sky Sports here or sign up for a NOW TV membership here. 

talkSPORT will have regular updates of all the action live on the Sunday Session. 

To tune in to talkSPORT or talkSPORT 2 through the website, click HERE for the live stream. 

You can also listen via the talkSPORT app, on DAB digital radio, through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.

You can follow the game in our dedicated Premier League live blog here too.

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