Manchester United have been eliminated from the Champions League and are dealing with a growing injury list ahead of their Premier League clash with Liverpool on Sunday.
Liverpool will hope to inflict more disappointment on Manchester United as they prepare to host their old rivals on Sunday. The Reds currently sit top of the Premier League table, consistently producing positive results as Jurgen Klopp continues to shape ‘Liverpool 2.0’.
Even when not at their best, the team have often shown a resilient streak to keep themselves in the title race. As for Man United, Erik ten Hag’s side saw their European campaign come to an end on Tuesday night after finishing bottom of their Champions League group, following a home defeat to Bayern Munich.
This latest setback came soon after their 3-0 defeat to Bournemouth in the Premier League at Old Trafford on Saturday. A mixture of injuries, illness and suspension means that Liverpool’s rivals could be without up to 13 players for the clash at Anfield.
However, after seeing the club eliminated from the Champions League, pundit Chris Sutton questioned whether even a fully-fit squad would help boost United’s hopes of earning a result against the Reds.
“A good point was made about United having injuries, but from the injured players who are any good, actually, who will come back and improve this team?” he asked BBC Radio 5 Live. “This team has been insipid all season. When they have come up against anybody half decent they’ve lost; they lost to Manchester City, they lost to Arsenal, they lost to Tottenham, they’ve lost to Newcastle on a couple of occasions and a decent Bayern Munich team who barely broke sweat tonight and United were not up to it at home.
“In a game of this magnitude, you have to lay a glove on them. But they are at an all-time low with their confidence.”Man United’s injury list looked to have worsened against Bayern Munich, with Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw being forced off during the game.
Ten Hag already has Tyrell Malacia, Casemiro, Lisandro Martinez, Christian Eriksen, Mason Mount, Victor Lindelof and Amad Diallo on the sidelines. The extent of their injury worries has led the Daily Mail to report that Man United’s head of sports medicine is leading an internal review of their ‘outdated’ medical department, ahead of Sir Jim Ratcliffe purchasing a 25 per cent stake in the club.
Both Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial were also unavailable on Tuesday night through illness; Bruno Fernandes will be suspended against Liverpool, while Jadon Sancho remains frozen out of the first team squad. It all means that Man United are expected to be face an uphill battle when they arrive on Merseyside.
However, veteran defender Jonny Evans insists they will be able to put their Champions League exit behind them and be fully prepared to upset the odds against Liverpool. “Massive day for the club, you know, away at Anfield,” Evans said after the defeat to Bayern Munich.
“We’ve got a couple of days now between the game and you’ve got to dust ourselves down. We’ve got a big match, a huge match. “I’m sure in the next day or two once the feeling of this match sort of passes by, we’ll only be excited leading up to that game.”
