PREMIER LEAGUE analyst Daniel McCulloch (@DMcCulloch1984) takes a look at Super Sunday's showdown between old rivals Manchester United and Liverpool.
Manchester United v Liverpool | Sunday 24th February 2019, 14:05 | Sky Sports
Trying to read too much in to a 90-minute football match is ridiculous but the simple fact is that majority of articles written about the beautiful game do exactly that. You don’t need to spend hours on Google before finding a ‘five things we learned from’ article and there will be plenty of these in the aftermath of this one as this feels like somewhat of a barometer as to where Manchester United are.
The Red Devils were outclassed by PSG, but enjoyed deserved victories against Arsenal and Chelsea in the FA Cup and a somewhat fortuitous one against Tottenham in the league.
The resurgence under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been incredible and you are certainly seeing that in the performances of individuals, particularly Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford.
It feels like Liverpool are in somewhat of a lull given that they’ve recently dropped points against the likes of West Ham and Leicester and were held by Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Tuesday. However, it is worth noting that they certainly created the better chances against their illustrious German opponents in midweek and the only side to beat them in the Premier League this season are Manchester City.
Despite the clear improvement under United, I do therefore believe that Liverpool deserve to be favourites but I am not confident enough to back them outright.
There are several angles I do fancy here, however. Firstly, it’s worth noting that under Jurgen Klopp Liverpool have travelled to top six opponents on 17 occasions and both sides have found the net in 14 of these matches. Indeed, the only time Liverpool themselves have kept a clean sheet in such matches was the German’s very first, against Tottenham in October 2015.
Both Teams To Score at 4/6 therefore seems a shout but I will take the more aggressive option and back 1-1, which is available at 6/1 with Bet365. This has occurred in five of the aforementioned 17-game sample and I don’t think it’s a bad result for either side.
United won’t want to lose to their biggest rivals while Liverpool will know that this is their toughest remaining fixture and a draw ensures that the title is still in their hands.
Additionally, I like the look of Paul Pogba in the Anytime market, available at 13/5 with 888. Since Solskjaer took over from Mourinho, the Frenchman has scored in six of the 11 domestic matches he has featured in, including against Chelsea on Monday night. I don’t believe such prices will last for much longer so get on while you can!
I do also like the look of 2-3 goals at 11/10 with BetVictor but let’s keep it at the two longer shots!
Best Bets
Manchester United v Liverpool – Manchester United 1-1 Liverpool (6/1 Bet365)
Manchester United v Liverpool – Paul Pogba to score at anytime (13/5 888)
