The pick of this weekend’s Premiership matches has to be this showdown between fierce rivals Man Utd and Liverpool, the two most successful clubs in the history of English football. Neither has enjoyed a huge amount of success in recent years, but both sets of fans have cause for optimism at present under Jose Mourinho and Jurgen Klopp respectively. Liverpool come into this game second in the table, while Man Utd are back in sixth, but only five points behind Liverpool thanks to a superb winning streak that has lasted eight games, six of them in the Premiership.
It should prove to be a clash between vastly different footballing philosophies. Mourinho teams are disciplined and pragmatic, putting great value in defensive solidity and keeping things tights. He is the master at stifling the life out of a game, hence the phrase “parking the bus” initially being created for him alone. Man Utd have scored far fewer goals than any of the other top six teams in the Premiership this season, but have the third best defensive record and have been really grinding out wins of late.
Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool are a completely different kettle of fish entirely. They are by far and away the leading goal scorers in the Premiership this season, averaging 2.4 goals per game, but defensive indiscipline has let them down many a time. The Reds have conceded more times than any other team in the top six, and as a result they are not top of the league. It could ultimately cost them when all the dust has settled on this season.
What then to make of this clash between one side that defends well and does not attack that well, and another that attacks well but defends poorly? They are likely to cancel one another out, and this is exactly what happened when they met earlier in the season. Liverpool came into the game on a roll, playing the best football in the land, but they could not breach Man Utd’s stubborn defence. It was a Mourinho masterclass in defensive pragmatism, i.e. it was the dullest game of the season. His men barely registered a chance going forwards, and really limited the number of openings Liverpool could create, and the result was a drab 0-0.
In front of their home fans, you would expect Man Utd to play a bit more expansively and show a tad more ambition, particularly as they will be keen to keep up their winning run. But the under 2.5 goals still looks a really interesting bet at 2.05 with Bet Victor and 2.11 with Bet365. A more cautious approach would be to back the under 3.5 goals, but that is just 1.41, again with Bet365 among other green listed bookmakers.
If Man Utd score, and there is a good chance of them doing so as you have to go back to October for the last game in which they failed to hit the back of the net, then you can expect them to defend with their lives. A 1-0 win for Man Utd or a 1-1 draw looks like a good bet here. Liverpool have been free scoring, but Mourinho knows how to keep them quiet. Man Utd come into this match having kept two clean sheets in a row, and they have not conceded more than one goal in a game since they lost to Chelsea 18 games ago. It would be a real surprise if Liverpool scored more than one. Man Utd meanwhile have really found their shooting boots of late, scoring 11 goals in their last four games, and the form of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Marcus Rashford should frighten Liverpool’s defenders. If one team were to sneak a narrow victory it would probably be Man Utd given their superb form, so Man Utd draw no bet looks a good option at 1.60 with William Hill.
Calculators
