Michael Plant explains why he expects Liverpool to earn a comfortable victory on Sunday when Manchester United travel to Anfield.
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00:00 Manchester United return to Premier League action on Sunday following the
00:03 midweek disappointment in the Champions League against Bayern Munich. That 1-0
00:07 defeat to the German champions means United are out of the Champions League
00:10 and out of Europe altogether in the second half of the season. It follows on
00:14 from another disappointing display last week in the Premier League against
00:18 Bournemouth and United have got a pretty difficult task this week if they are
00:21 going to respond and get a good result at Anfield, a stadium they've really
00:25 struggled at in recent years. The last Manchester United manager to get a
00:29 win there was Louis van Gaal which underlines just how difficult it's going
00:33 to be for United. The last player to score the winning goal there was actually
00:36 Wayne Rooney for United. United have just found it so difficult to go there. They've
00:40 lost over the last two trips to Anfield 11-0 and last season of course Eric
00:46 ten Hag who has had a very difficult run recently as Manchester United manager. He
00:49 suffered his most difficult day in the job with a 7-0 loss against Liverpool.
00:54 Again it's just gonna be such a difficult game for United who are so low
00:57 in confidence are gonna be without their captain Bruno Fernandes. That's a huge
01:01 blow for United. I don't even, I mean I think he's played every single game this
01:05 season, certainly played every single minute in the Premier League I'm pretty
01:08 sure as well. So to find, I don't even know how they're gonna set up without him.
01:11 It's just so complicated and so difficult for ten Hag. They also could
01:16 be without Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw, two players who have become key defenders
01:20 for United. Certainly Maguire in the last couple of months and Shaw since he's
01:23 come back from injury. Both players picked up knocks in the loss to Bayern
01:27 and had to be replaced. I think Maguire looks more serious of the two issues.
01:30 I'd be surprised if he's involved and who knows what sort of defence United
01:33 are gonna put out against Liverpool. They ended the Bayern game with a back four
01:38 of Wambasaka, Amrabat, Evans, Dalot. Who knows what number in the back order of
01:45 ten Hag's preferred back four that defence falls under. And yeah as I say
01:52 just gonna be such a difficult game. United head there in 6th position
01:55 against Liverpool. They could be 9th depending on how the results go and
01:58 United who have now lost half of their 24 league games this season. Sorry 24
02:04 games in all competitions this season. It just seems an
02:07 impossible task. United anytime they have to face adversity, they have to stand up
02:11 be counted for, they will under the pressure and the spotlight. And I feel
02:15 it really is some spotlight and some pressure to deal with. Liverpool
02:19 themselves are flying at the moment. They're actually top of the table in the
02:22 Premier League. Not necessarily playing absolutely brilliantly at the moment but
02:25 I suspect they'll make pretty light work of United in all honesty. The one small
02:30 advantage United have is that they played Tuesday night, Liverpool play
02:33 Thursday night. So they have an extra two days of rest but I don't think it's gonna
02:37 matter. I mean Liverpool have already topped their Europa League group. So I
02:40 mean I'm recording this before that game and you would suspect Jurgen Klopp will
02:45 rest and rotate in that match. And yeah it's just gonna be such a difficult game
02:50 for United. I fully expect a comfortable Liverpool victory. I would guess by at
02:55 least three goals. I'd be surprised if it's anything less than that in all
02:59 honesty.