(Football news) When the two titans faced off in a knockout match, Erik ten Hag’s team won 4-3, but the Red Devils were surprisingly on the losing end of a seven-goal scoreline in the middle of the week.
Rewind to March 17, when the rarely seen Amad Diallo caused mayhem at Old Trafford by scoring a last-second goal that sent Manchester United into the FA Cup finals at Liverpool’s expense, dashigning Jurgen Klopp’s hopes of packing his suitcase with four more medals.
However, Manchester United were incredibly handed a dose of their own seven-goal medicine on Thursday evening, where a 3-2 triumph over Chelsea was ostensibly on the cards at the end of a frenzied battle, only for Cole Palmer’s second penalty of the night to precede an extraordinary 101st-minute clincher, the latest winning goal on record in the Premier League.
As Chelsea roared in delight, Manchester United cast their heads down in dejection at setting a new unwanted Premier League record – no side had ever gone on to lose a game in the tournament after leading so late – and Thursday’s reverse might be the biggest blot on Ten Hag’s notebook just yet.
With the eagle eyes of Sir Jim Ratcliffe observing his every move, the under-fire Ten Hag has limited recovery time to play with for the sixth-placed Red Devils, who are nine points behind Tottenham Hotspur and have an 11-point deficit to make up to Aston Villa, albeit with a game in hand on the Lions.
After making an exceptional start to February with four top-flight wins on the trot, Man United return to play in front of a shell-shocked Old Trafford faithful with just one victory to show from their last five Premier League battles – taking a mere four points in that time – but they have already upset the apple cart to upset the Reds once in 2024.
While FA Cup glory is now a pipe dream owing to last month’s pulsating quarter-final loss, Liverpool are still in control of their Premier League title destiny owing to an expected triumph over Sheffield United, albeit one which did not come as easily as many foretold.
A comical Darwin Nunez opener was cancelled out by a Conor Bradley own goal as the Reds were briefly made to pay for their lethargic performance, but Alexis Mac Allister’s piledriver breathed new life into the Anfield crowd before Cody Gakpo made sure of maximum points.
On account of their third home win on the bounce in all competitions, Klopp’s charges enter the weekend with their two-point buffer over Arsenal and three-point lead over Manchester City still intact, although both of their title rivals can knock them down the standings by prevailing on Saturday.
Since the heartbreaking FA Cup loss in March, the Reds have not traveled for competition. However, six of their past seven Premier League away games against rival teams have been in victories, and it has been just over a year since Klopp’s team last lost an away game in the top tier.
In addition, Liverpool has an unmatched 16 wins and 59 goals in all competitions this year, more than any other team in Europe’s top five leagues. And although they were held to a boring goalless draw at Anfield earlier in the season by Manchester United, they have not failed to score in either of their Premier League meetings with the Red Devils since 2007–08, giving them hope for an instant taste of revenge.
Also read: Chelsea will play Sheffield United in EPL
