The biggest game in English Football makes its way into the European agenda as England’s two most decorated clubs go head to head in a European game for the first time in the history of the clubs. It makes for grim reading at one end considering the fact that in spite of Manchester United and Liverpool holding such important places in European football history for their exploits in the UEFA Champions League, the duo has to meet for the first time in European competition in the second tier of Europe’s showpiece event.
At the other end of the thought balloon ask yourself, can we hope for a better fixture for a Europa League’s Round of 16? Sparks will fly as both teams, currently sitting outside the UEFA Champions League spots in their domestic league look for a way into the elite competition by winning the Europa League. The first leg will be held at Anfield with the return leg at Old Trafford.
Kickoff and Live Telecast
Channel: Ten Action
Date and Time: 11 March, 01.35 am IST
Live streaming: http://www.tensports.com/event/football/uefa-europa-league-2015-16
Venue: Anfield
Team News
Liverpool
Daniel Sturridge and Phillipe Coutinho are expected to return to the starting line-up after being on the substitute’s bench for Liverpool’s weekend game versus Crystal Palace and Lucas Leiva is still out with an injury. Jon Flanagan was not registered into Liverpool’s Europa League squad which means that Nathaniel Clyne will probably take his place in the starting lineup.
James Milner missed training after having been stricken by a virus and is expected to not feature in the game.
Manchester United
Manchester United enter the game with an incredibly long list of injuries that includes after recent setbacks, the likes of Wayne Rooney and Cameron Borthwick-Jackson. Marcus Rashford is expected to lead the Manchester United front line in the absence of talisman, Wayne Rooney. Will Keane, Ashley Young, Luke Shaw and Phil Jones are also out with injuries.
Antonio Valencia may return to the bench after recovering quicker than expected from an ankle problem. Jesse Lingard is set to miss the game via suspension and Adnan Januzaj is cup ticup-tiedian Schweinsteiger has an outside chance of featuring after resuming training on Wednesday.
Form
Liverpool
It bodes well for Liverpool that they are unbeaten in the last 5 games in all competitions. The Reds will look to continue their record for the next few games, with the explicit of creating momentum that will take them through the rest of the season. Jurgen Klopp will want his men to take a considerable lead into the return leg with the intention being to force Manchester United into playing an open game in the return leg at Old Trafford.
Liverpool entered the Round of 16 having beaten Augsburg at Anfield after having drawn the away leg previously. Since then, Liverpool have drawn the Capital One Cup Final against Manchester City in normal time and extra time and won against Manchester City in the league at Anfield before coming from behind and a man down to beat Crystal Palace away.
Last 5 Matches: D-W-D-W-W (Last match: Crystal Palace 1-2 Liverpool)
Manchester United
On paper, Manchester United comes into the game with better results than Liverpool than their last 5 games. However, if the loss against West Bromwich Albion, could be counted as a blip on their record, the rest of the season has been a little stop-start for them too.
Louis van Gaal has had his critics but one could argue that his team has delivered important results considering their last 5 games include a 3-2 win against a momentous Arsenal and a 5-1 thrashing of FC Midtjylland albeit both results at home.
This is an important game for Manchester United and they would be aware of not wanting to lose ground before the return leg which is sandwiched between crucial fixtures in the FA Cup and Premier League.
Last 5 Matches: W-W-W-W-L (Last match: West Bromwich Albion 1-0 Manchester United)
Probable lineups
Liverpool (4-2-3-1): Mignolet, Clyne, Lovren, Sakho, Moreno, Can, Henderson, Lallana, Firmino, Coutinho, Sturridge
Manchester United (4-2-3-1): De Gea, Darmian, Smalling, Blind, Rojo, Carrick, Schneiderlin, Herrera, Mata, Martial, Rashford
Key stats
- Juan Mata has scored three times and made five assists in his last eight games against Liverpool.
- Manchester United has failed to register a win in its last five away games in European competition knockout rounds.
- Manchester United’s record against English opposition in European Competitions reads as six wins, two draws and one loss.
- Liverpool are unbeaten in European competition this season with three wins and five draws.
Key battles
Daniel Sturridge vs Chris Smalling
Daniel Sturridge sat out Liverpool’s weekend Premier League fixture after starting on the bench and Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp preferring Christian Benteke in a situation where Liverpool were a man down and a goal behind against Crystal Palace. What that essentially means for the Liverpool hitman, is that he will have a pair of fresh legs to bank upon in this game.
Chris Smalling, having featured midweek may feel leggy to begin with and will have to be on his toes alongside partner Daley Blind to keep the threat of the Liverpool frontline at bay. Chris Smalling does have the recovery pace to deal with Daniel Sturridge’s blistering runs off the defender’s shoulders but that Daniel Sturridge has the ability to conjure something out of nothing, will play on the England defender’s mind.
Juan Mata vs Emre Can
This battle might well be the clincher for the game at Anfield, a ground Juan Mata has been known to produce some of his very best performances at. Mata has, on many occasions in the last few seasons, dampened the party at Anfield with many a sublime display. He will also be responsible largely for the creative efforts that United wish to channel into the final third.
Considering Mata’s preference of drifting into space behind the opposition midfield, the responsibility of spoiling his game may fall onto the shoulders of young Emre Can who often finds himself at the defensive tip of a midfield setup which will genuinely miss the industry of James Milner.
Can, though is more comfortable as a shuttling midfielder and may well have to pull out the stops and put in a genuine world class performance, the sort he has put in sporadically for the Reds, to stop the Spaniard from silencing the Kop.
Prediction
Liverpool has started putting together results in a manner that may suggest that momentum is on their side. The game is at Anfield and the Kop will be in full voice. Jurgen has admitted that he is relishing the prospect of meeting Manchester United again after the last meeting between the two left Klopp with a bitter taste in the mouth.
This might be a tough game for Manchester United to take a result out from. However, one could expect them to get an away goal.
Liverpool 2-1 Manchester United
