Manchester United vs Liverpool may not be a title decider anymore, what with Manchester City running away with the Premier League, but both the English giants have second spot on their mind when they renew a tempestuous rivalry at Old Trafford on Saturday.
The first game of Match Day 30 is the biggest one by far and while the Red Devils and the Reds would have preferred to have been involved in a summit clash, the stakes are still pretty high for and neither set of fans will be happy with even a draw.
For fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur aren’t too far behind and right now, nobody can confidently state that they will finish in the automatic UEFA Champions League spots, save the league leaders of course.
So without further ado, let’s take a look at the five players who are expected to be in the eye of the storm in Manchester come Saturday:
Romelu Lukaku (Manchester United)
On the face of it, Romelu Lukaku’s not had a bad season for Manchester United. His stats (22 goals and six assists in all competitions), however, don’t hold up so well when the opposition’s names are read out.
Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal are all teams the 6’4 Belgian, who arrived in the summer for a £75 million fee, has failed to score against.
After starring during United’s 2-1 win over Chelsea a fortnight ago, the 24-year-old will be full of confidence and a similar display against the Reds could shut up his ‘big-game’ doubters for good.
The Reds have actually shored up things at the back of late, having conceded just once in their past five games, but can Virgil van Dijk and co. keep a lid on United’s no.9?
Physically, the players are pretty evenly matched with Lukaku holding a slight edge and it remains to be seen whether he can bully the Dutchman.
A centre-forward Lukaku may be but he will have to do more than just fashion scoring chances for his hold-up play will have to be on point if United are to clinch the win.
Too often his wayward touches lead to counters and against a team of Liverpool’s offensive capabilities that could prove calamitous indeed.
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
Undoubtedly the signing of the Premier League season, Mo Salah’s a goalscoring phenonomen everybody knows about but nobody can find a way to shut him down.
If there’s one man who can do it, however, that’s Jose Mourinho.
The Special One did it at Anfield, when he parked the proverbial bus for the entire 90 minutes in a bid to secure a draw but this time round United can’t settle for the solitary point, can they?
And while the table may say that the Red Devils have the second-best defence in the league, a large part of is down to the brilliance of David de Gea.
Their central defenders, more on them below, haven’t been quite up to the mark while their fullbacks are a far cry from the days of Gary Neville and Co.
So the stage is set for Salah, perhaps Egypt’s finest footballing export, to show the United defence a clean set of heels time and again.
Ashley Young is likely to be his dance partner on the night and unless the Englishman double-teams the Egyptian, Liverpool’s No.11 will comfortably win this waltz.
Paul Pogba (Manchester United)
Games like these are when the world-class players justify their gargantuan wages.
Paul Pogba has had a strange second season for the Red Devils, starring in the early stages before going on getting injured and watch his team slide from the top. And while he’s been back in the fold for a while now, his place in the squad has come under threat from young Scott McTominay.
Whether McTominay is the real deal or not is irrelevant when compared to the PR disaster that will engulf the club if Pogba were to demand a transfer in the summer.
The flashy Frenchman has retained his place, helped slightly by the injury to Ander Herrera, but he’s not linking up well with United’s new big gun—Alexis Sanchez.
Their synergy, or rather lack of it, coupled with the fact that Lukaku drifts in and outs of games has seen the Red Devils look disjointed in attack.
For all of Liverpool’s brilliance while going forward, however, the jury’s still out on their midfield and certainly on their defence.
How Mourinho sets up his team to play the Reds could determine how much influence Pogba is able to exert on this tie but if truly wishes to be placed in the top echelon of midfielders, he’ll have to make do no matter where he plays.
Loris Karius (Liverpool)
Against all odds, Karius has wrestled the No.1 spot from Simon Mignolet and actually has put in some excellent performances between the sticks of late.
The German’s full-stretch dive against Newcastle United last week was highlight-reel worthy and he’s paying back his manager’s faith and how.
Considering Mignolet’s error-strewn displays for the past couple of seasons, Karius’ ‘victory’ was seen as a best of the worst situation, but the 24-year-old is putting a rocky start behind him.
However, rumours of a new goalkeeper arriving in the summer continue to do the rounds and if Karius wants to prove his employers that he can be the among the recognisable faces of the Jurgen Klopp era, an error-free display is the very least of the requirements.
Certainly, David de Gea will the busier of the custodians at Old Trafford, but Karius will be called into action intermittently and every goalkeeper worth his salt knows his salt how dangerous such a situation can be.
With Liverpool expected to dominate proceedings for the most part, it can get easy for Karius to switch off and concede before he knowing what’s going on.
United, despite their struggles this season, do have plenty of match-winners in their squad and if they get going, Karius and Co. will be in trouble.
Virgil van Dijk has started to settle in Merseyside, but there are still plenty of holes at the back still and the fact that Klopp prefers to rotate his defence might complicate matters further.
Chris Smalling (Manchester United)
Chris Smalling has been ever-present in Jose Mourinho’s plans this season.
And that’s a good thing, right? Well, not if you ask United fans who are prepared for the worst whenever the Englishman is on the pitch.
And if one takes in Eric Bailly and Phil Jones’ injury woes, that’s actually been a lot.
The 28-year-old was billed as the next Rio Ferdinand due to their similar physiques but the 6’4 centre-back has a long way to go if he wishes to be mentioned in the same breath as the United legend.
The fact that United have struggled for goals up top has not seen him endure the worst of the flak, but one slip against an in-form Liverpool slide could prove fatal.
Mourinho’s men aren’t free-flowing and are likely to absorb Liverpool’s pressure and hit them on the break when the opportunity arises.
It’s unclear whether Bailly will return to the fold or if Marcos Rojo/Victor Lindelof will partner Smalling, but either way the centre-back has to shore up his act if United are to survive the visit of their arch-rivals.