Alex Keble's Premier League match-ups: Liverpool can hammer Manchester United
- Alex Keble (@alexkeble) is a football journalist who specialises in tactical understanding, analysis and predictions of all aspects of the game.
Scroll down for Crystal Palace vs Manchester City match-ups.
Rashford v Salah
- Man Utd vs Liverpool
- Sky Sports Main Event: 15:30 GMT, Sunday
- Home 15/4 | Draw 7/2 | Away 3/5
This will not be a repeat of the FA Cup quarter-final. That was a one-off, a ludicrous anomaly in which Manchester United continually scored goals out of nowhere and Liverpool took their eye of the ball too many times to count.
Premier League encounters between the two teams are more ordered affairs and follow the tactical templates we expect them to. But that doesn’t mean this will be an easy win for Liverpool, who have now lost twice in a row at Old Trafford since the 5-0 win in October 2021 which, on paper, is the sort of result you might expect in 2024.
It is possible something like Liverpool’s 7-0 win last March could happen. Man Utd remain hopelessly and inexplicably decompressed, the forward line and defensive line backing away from each other to such an extent that even Brentford could tear them apart last weekend.
However, Erik ten Hag tends to do better in the big games because United’s inferiority complex against clubs like Liverpool allows them to sit in a low block, thus squeezing that midfield space and closing down all the gaps.
From here, United are well positioned to launch a spring-loaded counter-attack back the other way, taking advantage of the high back line and advanced full-backs that will come with Liverpool’s territorial advantage.
This is a problem for Liverpool on their right flank. Conor Bradley’s desire to get forward, coupled with Jarell Quansah’s difficulty covering the spaces to his right, allowed Brighton’s Simon Adingra to excel throughout Liverpool’s 2-1 victory over Brighton last weekend.
Adingra found it far too easy to break, mostly because Quansah doesn’t anticipate the space and pull the rest of the defence over to that side quickly enough. He is more hesitant than Ibrahima Konate, and therefore if he starts at Old Trafford Rashford can be the star.
But those counter-attacks are a double-edged sword for Man Utd. Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho are superb on the break and yet they are surely the two worst players in the Premier League at tracking back; a good ten seconds into an assault on the United goal will end without either player in the game.
Glasner’s back five v Silva & De Bruyne
- Crystal Palace vs Man City
- TNT Sports 1: 12:30 GMT, Saturday
- Home 9/1 | Draw 9/2 | Away 2/7
Crystal Palace have a very good record against Manchester City, who have only won two of their last five matches against this weekend’s opponents. It doesn’t seem to matter who is in charge: Palace’s low block has a way of stumping Man City, especially at Selhurst Park.
Oliver Glasner’s 3-4-3 formation, which will no doubt become a 5-4-1 as Palace sit off, might be even better suited to stopping Man City. There is a danger that leaving one up front means Palace can’t block the simple passes from centre-back to City central midfielder, but assuming the formation is fluid and well-drilled, there is an obvious advantage to having five across the back.
Arsenal were similarly defensive in the 0-0 draw with Man City, when Pep Guardiola’s narrow attacking lines ran into the brick wall. He twice tried to change things during the match: first he moved Kevin de Bruyne out to the right to double up with Bernardo Silva, and then he brought on Jeremy Doku and Jack Grealish to add pure width.
Neither worked, but the attempt was clear. Guardiola wanted to stretch the defensive shell from side to side, and with that in mind it will be interesting to see how he copes with Glasner’s compact defence on Saturday. His best bet is moving De Bruyne out wide again, avoiding the congested central areas and using an extra wide man to get around the wing-back and outside centre-back.
If that doesn’t work initially, keep an eye on how the position of Man City’s wingers changes over the match. The visitors will expect to find a way through eventually.
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