SaltWire E-Edition

Storied rivalry rekindled

Manchester United vs. Liverpool to be a much-watch this weekend

PAUL CHAPMAN

Our benchmark for popularity is usually boiled down to TV ratings. Last year’s Super Bowl drew a global audience of 112 million. Last year’s Stanley Cup final drew an average of just over 5 million. Last year’s Liverpool vs. Manchester United matches? Over 600 million.

The two storied clubs meet on Sunday in the latest chapter of one of the greatest rivalries in sports at Old Trafford.

It’s a fascinating matchup between the most-decorated teams in English football. Do you put stock in their European performances this week, where Liverpool surrendered a two-goal lead but pulled through with a 3-2 win in Madrid at Atletico? Or do you feel United, at home, have the edge having come down from a 2-0 deficit themselves to beat Atalanta 3-2?

Liverpool have not lost a game in all competitions this season and have scored at least three goals in all but two of their fixtures this season. Last weekend, Liverpool thumped Watford 5-0 while United looked quite poor losing 4-2 to Leicester.

Liverpool striker Mohammed Salah has been drawing comparisons to United superstar Cristiano Ronaldo this season as he has been superb. He has seven Premier League goals this season in eight games, and 12 goals in 11 games in all competitions.

Liverpool sits four points ahead of United in the table and the Red Devils can illafford to see that gap stretch to seven.

While Ronaldo’s numbers aren’t quite as gaudy — three Premier League goals and six total — he has rescued points with match-winning goals late on in games and this is the kind of stage he thrives on.

With so much conversation over such a tight title race this year, there’s a train of thought that the team that eventually wins the trophy will be the one who wins the ‘mini-league’ in the games between the other top-four teams.

If there has been one drawback to Liverpool’s season so far, it’s that they’ve dropped key points at home, only managing draws at Anfield with Chelsea and Manchester City — that’s four points lost rather than two points won.

Old Trafford, and a massive crowd that will be spitting venom at the Reds, is a great equalizer in big matches like this. But a fast start from Liverpool could easily bring anger and anxiousness and pile pressure on manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Our money would be on a Liverpool win, but it could easily get another draw as you can expect United to raise their level for this one with fans back in stands.

Other issues to keep an eye on this weekend, after all the hype and excitement over new owners, Newcastle proved they may be forced to begin a rebuild in the Championship as they were drubbed at home by Spurs and remain in the relegation zone. The Magpies travel to a game at Crystal Palace this weekend, who were astonishingly unlucky to only draw at Arsenal last week.

Newcastle finally fired manager Steve Bruce and will have an interim in place, but don’t expect any bump in quality for Newcastle, whose players likely realize they won’t be part of a bigger rebuild.

Brentford have been a revelation this year, the newly promoted squad has already beaten Arsenal, drawn with Liverpool and frankly should have beat Chelsea last week, dominating in a slender 1-0 loss that needed a career performance from Chelsea keeper Edouard Mendy. Brentford faces Leicester, which struggled early on, but have found their feet the past couple of weeks.

Brighton have been a spark to start the season, flirting with the top four, but they host Manchester City this week in a true test to see if their start was a fluke or if they can hang in the European places for the rest of the season.

SPORTS

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2021-10-23T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-10-23T07:00:00.0000000Z

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