Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Sport
Alex Turk

Manchester United’s glaring weakness Liverpool must exploit at Old Trafford

Liverpool travel to Old Trafford for the second time this season on Sunday, where Manchester United await.

The Reds' hopes of breaking into the Premier League's top four are slowly fading, but a win today would keep them fighting.

Increasing their chances of Champions League football next season is the main focus among fans this weekend. However, to do that, Liverpool will have to do something they've never done under Jurgen Klopp - win at Old Trafford.

The Reds haven't left the ground with all three points since March 2014, as Brendan Rodgers oversaw a 3-0 wipeout against David Moyes' troubled side.

That stat alone is enough to suggest it will be no easy task. It's a game more complicated by United's knack of being hard to beat this season; their four defeats make up the joint-lowest total in the top-flight.

So how can Liverpool make use of an empty Old Trafford and pick up a long-awaited win this weekend? There's one glaring weakness to exploit.

Virgil van Dijk and Joel Matip's absences have admittedly made Liverpool significantly weaker in dead-ball situations.

However, Klopp could do much worse than targeting such attacking sequences.

United and Liverpool's set-piece numbers are interestingly similar this season. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side has scored seven Premier League goals from set-pieces, whilst Klopp's have totalled six.

Defensively, only Leeds have conceded more set-piece goals than United (11) in the league this term. More interestingly, seven of those have come at Old Trafford, a league-high tally for home teams.

The Red Devils have tall players at their disposal - most notably Harry Maguire, Scott McTominay, and Paul Pogba.

Victor Lindelof has been a regular starter under Solskjaer, though, and aerial duels are not his forte.

Liverpool have a couple of options to break down United from dead-ball situations.

Either utilise technically-gifted stars in a chance-creating move from a short pass or aim pinpoint crosses towards Lindelof's post.

In terms of Liverpool's shot-creating actions this season, the four main wide men - Trent Alexander-Arnold (94), Andrew Robertson (88), Mohamed Salah (91), and Sadio Mane (102) - are all in the top five of that metric.

From dead-ball situations, Alexander-Arnold has done 24, Robertson 15. The next highest total after that is Jordan Henderson on just four.

Liverpool will be looking to create from the wide areas, so firing in crosses early in the match to test United - and Lindelof's - resolve would be wise.

From there, the decision can be made on how to exploit the hosts when set-pieces are awarded.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.