Liverpool vs Man Utd preview, team news, stats, prediction, kick-off time, live on Sky Sports

Joel Matip’s groin issue to be assessed; Naby Keita to miss out again; Man Utd players given chance to prove fitness, including Anthony Martial; follow Liverpool vs Man Utd on Sky Sports Premier League and Main Event from 4pm on Sunday; kick-off 4.30pm

Team news and stats ahead of Liverpool vs Manchester United in the Premier League on Sunday; kick-off 4:30pm

Team news

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp will assess Joel Matip in training before deciding whether to start him against Manchester United at Anfield on Sunday.

The centre-back has missed three matches with a groin problem but is back with the squad. If he is not ready, Klopp will have to choose between youngster Rhys Williams or Nat Phillips.

Midfielder Naby Keita remains sidelined with a muscle problem which has kept him out since December 19.

Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will give players the chance to prove their fitness before the trip to Anfield.

Anthony Martial picked up an apparent hamstring complaint in Tuesday’s 1-0 win against Burnley and is among those that will be given Saturday’s training session to get themselves match ready.

Solskjaer confirmed the only definite injury absentees would be defenders Brandon Williams and Phil Jones.

Liverpool vs Man Utd will be broadcast live on Sky Sports Premier League and Main Event from 4pm on Sunday; kick-off at 4.30pm. Sky Sports customers can watch in-game clips in the live match blog on the Sky Sports website and app. Free highlights will also be published on the Sky Sports digital platforms and the Sky Sports Football YouTube channel shortly after the final whistle.

Big match alert.

In situations like this, trying to not get carried away with the pre-match hullabaloo when it comes to finding intelligent betting angles is key. This one has the hallmarks of being a cagey affair.

Liverpool have the best Premier League home record this season – and are unbeaten in their last 67 league matches at Anfield – while Man Utd have the best away record in the division. So, what happens when an immovable object meets a force of nature? Stalemate, that’s what

Surely “don’t lose” will be the message rather than going all out to win it for both teams, especially in the Manchester United dressing room. A draw will be a huge result for them. If the game gets to 60-65 minutes and is all square, we could see a repeat of what happened in Man City vs Liverpool, where both were happy with a point. I will be backing the draw

There is value to be had elsewhere though. One area of football betting I have found to be quite profitable in recent years is the cards markets. The stats will tell you that Scott McTominay has yet to be booked this season but he’s made 22 fouls, averaging over 2.2 fouls per 90 minutes. Unsurprisingly, he has made the most fouls without being booked of any current Premier League player this season. If you stretch it back to last season he has now on a run of 31 fouls without a card since being booked after 24 seconds on Boxing Day in 2019 vs Newcastle – which is the quickest booking since Opta started collating data in 2006.

• Liverpool have won their last two home Premier League games against Manchester United, last winning three in a row in March 2011.
• Manchester United are winless in their last four Premier League games against Liverpool (D2 L2), their longest run without a win against their rivals since a run of five between March 2000 and January 2002.
• Liverpool are winless in three Premier League games (D2 L1), failing to score in their last two. They last went four without a win in February 2017 (a run of five), while they’ve not failed to score in three consecutive league games since March 2005.
• Liverpool lost their first league game of 2021 but haven’t started a calendar year with consecutive league defeats since 1993. However, the Reds are unbeaten in 67 home league games (W55 D12), finding the net in each of their last 42 at Anfield.
• Manchester United will be top of the table going into a Premier League meeting with Liverpool for the first time since January 2013 under Sir Alex Ferguson, with the Red Devils going on to win the title in that campaign.
• Manchester United have won none of their three league games against Liverpool with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as manager (D2 L1) – the only two Red Devils managers to fail to win their first four league games against Liverpool are John Chapman (1921-26) and Tommy Docherty (1973-76).
• This will be Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp’s 200th Premier League game in charge – he’s won 127 of his 199 games so far, with only José Mourinho winning more of his first 200 in the competition’s history (137). Klopp is also the 10th manager to reach 200 top-flight games for Liverpool, with the German winning more of his first 200 than any of his predecessors.
• Man Utd’s Marcus Rashford has scored three goals in his last four Premier League games against Liverpool, with these goals being worth four points to Manchester United. Only Wayne Rooney (6), Andy Cole (4) and Ryan Giggs (4) have scored more Premier League goals against Liverpool for the Red Devils.