Manchester United vs Liverpool Preview, Prediction and Odds for Sunday’s Match – 20/10/2019 Updated for December 2024

Updated: 8th December 2024

English Premier League 2019-20 season preview: Manchester United vs Liverpool – Sunday, October 20th, 2019 – 16:30 BST

Could Manchester United end Liverpool's phenomenal winning streak of eight Premier League games when Jurgen Klopp's men come a-visiting Old Trafford this weekend?. It doesn't look likely given the highly contrasting forms of the two teams so far.

Manchester United Form Preview

Manchester United excepting for their thumping 4-0 win over Chelsea in the League opener have registered just one more win from their following seven games, a fortuitous 1-0 win against Leicester City. Their campaign has been peppered with losses to teams like West Ham, Crystal Palace and Newcastle and draws against Southampton and Arsenal. Liverpool, on the other hand, are at the top of the EPL table with 24 points and a clear 8 points ahead of next-best Manchester City.

Coach Ole Solskjaer will have players back from injury with Anthony Martial and Paul Pogba having played a key role in some of the Red Devils' more notable performances earlier in the season. After the 0-1 loss to Newcastle away at St. James Park and the 0-0 to Astana away in Kazakhstan, it is hoped that the weeklong international break owing to European Cup qualifiers will give Solskjaer time to take stock and figure out what improvements need to be made before meeting the Premier League leaders.

A major blow to the already shaky host defense will be the unavailability of David de Gea between the posts for the Liverpool game. The Spanish goalkeeper had to limp out injured in his country's 1-1 draw with Sweden in a European Cup 2020 qualifying clash. Sergio Romero, United’s No.2, will step in to replace De Gea, with third-choice Lee Grant as back-up. Others on the injured list are Mason Greenwood, Diogo Dalot, Phil Jones, Luke Shaw and Eric Bailly with Dalot looking most likely to return at the back.

Liverpool Form Preview

As for Liverpool, their star scorer Mohammad Salah stayed behind in England throughout the international break, recovering from an ankle injury sustained in the win over Leicester City a fortnight ago. Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp will continue to monitor his fitness ahead of this weekend’s trip to Old Trafford. Till then, it's a 50-50 for the Egyptian's participation on Sunday. Others still on the long-term injury list are Joel Matip, Xherdan Shaqiri and Alisson. With both team’s scorers, be it Marcus Rashford, Roberto Firmino or Sadio Mane in good scoring form, there definitely seems a possibility of goals on either side.

Despite United's horrific performance this season (12th on the EPL table presently after 8 games), they have been impressive at home as evinced from their wins over top six clubs Chelsea and Leicester and a fighting 1-1 draw against 3rd placed Arsenal. So, they are not exactly lambs for slaughter at Old Trafford and not to forget the raucous support they are going to get from a partisan crowd. But Liverpool are the bookmakers' favourites to win having won two of their last three encounters with their weekend opponents since the beginning of 2018.

Manchester United probable line-up:

Romero (goal), Maguire, Young, Dalot, Tuanzebe, Mata, Pereira, Fred, James, McTominay, Rashford.

Liverpool probable line-up:

Adrian (goal), Van Dijk, Lovren, Robertson, Alexander-Arnold, Fabinho, Wijnaldum, Milner, Firmino, Mane, Salah.

Manchester United vs Liverpool Popular odds

Odds subject to change and correct as of 18/10/2019.

• Liverpool to win: 4/6 (Betfair)
• Manchester United to win: 9/2 (Betfair)
• Draw: 3/1 (Betfair)

Liverpool to win 2-1, 3-1 or 4-1: 333/100 (GiveMeBet)

Liverpool to win & both sides to score: 9/4 (GiveMeBet)

Manchester United vs Liverpool Verdict:

Liverpool to win 2-1 looks a mostly likely outcome. The more adventurous could go for a Draw.

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