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League leaders Liverpool will host arch-rivals Manchester United at Anfield on Sunday looking to maintain their astonishing 14-point lead over second-placed Manchester City. Jurgen Klopp's pacesetters also have a game in hand on the Premier League champions, and their insurmountable lead has rekindled belief even to the most pessimistic Liverpool supporters that this will almost certainly be the year they finally lift their first league title in 30 years.
While the Reds are poised to ultimately win the war, they do have a handful of battles to navigate between now and the end of the season if they are to maintain their unbeaten streak.
They have already gone a whole calendar without suffering a Premier League defeat, but only once in Premier League history has a team gone the whole season without losing a single game - Arsenal's 'Invincibles' in 2003-2004. That is the magnitude of the task Klopp's side face.
Liverpool and Manchester United are the two most successful clubs in English Football history, having won 38 league titles between them. But strangely enough, they haven't seemed to be vying for dominance at the same time. As United have tumbled down post-Ferguson era, Liverpool have been on a resurgence.
On Sunday though, Manchester United will look to infict Liverpool's first league defeat and here are three reasons why they can.
#1 United, the masters of ending streaks
Regardless of form and league position, Manchester United against Liverpool is the always the fixture that both sets of fans look forward to when the Premier League fixtures are released every season. And this term, it was the same case.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been the one manager to stop the Liverpool juggernaut this season in the Premier League. They led Liverpool at Old Trafford in the reverse fixture and thwarted to end their unbeaten streak, until Adam Lallana pounced in the final few minutes to snatch a point. Remarkably, the Merseysiders haven't lost another point since.
Historically, the Red Devils have been the masters of ending unbeaten runs in the Premier League era. They halted two of the longest streaks in Premier League history, ending Arsenal's Invincibles' 49 matches and Jose Mourinho's Chelsea in 2005 at 40 matches.
Liverpool's 38-match unbeaten run is the third-longest in Premier League, and if history is anything to go by, United are destined to put a stop on Sunday.
#2 Klopp's record against United is not the best
Since his appointment as Liverpool manager in October 2015, Jurgen Klopp has faced Manchester United eight times in the league, but has managed just one win and five draws. That solitary victory was significant though as it came in the 3-1 win in December 2018 which spelled the end of Jose Mourinho's time at United. It will be intriguing to see what the repercussions will be should Solskjaer suffer a defeat to the German tactician.
Manchester United were mired into their worst start to a league season and their confidence seemingly in pieces in the reverse fixture earlier this season. Liverpool were expected to roll up to Old Trafford and put United down to the ground. But United defied the form book and while Liverpool rescued a point, they looked bereft of ideas especially in the first-half.
Klopp's inability to puncture the United balloon more often was evident in the forgettable goalless draw in February 2019 - a result that in the grand scheme of things denied Liverpool the title last year. The German perhaps gives United far too much respect for the occasion, and fails to find the antidote to United's style of play, he could be looking at potential first league defeat of the current campaign.
#3 The form of Marcus Rashford
Marcus Rashford's involvement on Sunday will be subject to so much debate and speculation after suffering a knock to his back in midweek's 1-0 win against Wolves in the FA Cup third round.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hasn't ruled him out completely which means there is a chance the young Englishman could feature against Liverpool.
Should Rashford play, then United will once again vest the responsibility on another match-winning performance to their talisman. The 22-year-old has scored a personal best 19 goals this season in all competitions and he is the current top scorer for Manchester United. Rashford has been deployed on the left-wing for most of the season, but he confessed he is at the peak of his game when playing just inside - not as a central striker or as an out and out winger.
Rashford, Martial and Daniel James have incredible pace and relentless pressure. Solskjaer orchestrated a 3-4-1-2 system in the 1-1 draw at Old Trafford, with Rashford and James operating as the two central strikers. But given Martial's availability, the Frenchman could lead the attack, with Rashford and James supporting down the flanks.
