Manchester United vs Liverpool Betting Tips (02/05/21) – Reds Hope to Take Advantage of Distracted United

If any game summed up Liverpool in 2020/21, it was Saturday’s draw with Newcastle. All of the classic Reds tropes were there – domination of the ball, chances created, lead taken, failure to kill off the game and then a late sucker punch to drop yet more points.

When Mo Salah ghosted in to fire Liverpool ahead as early as the third minute – the club’s first goal in the first half of a game at Anfield in 2021 remarkably, most pundits were simply left questioning how many Jurgen Klopp’s team would win by – not if they would win at all.

Salah had chances, as did his three strike partners in Bobby Firmino, Sadio Mane and Diogo Jota, but none could find the net to extend their side’s lead.

And, as has been quintessential Liverpool this term, there was always likely to be a sting in the tail as a result – most thought it had come when Callum Wilson fired home an injury time equaliser.

That was ruled out for a handball in the build-up, and you would have thought the Reds had learned their lesson.

But more nervy defending failed to clear another late Newcastle foray, and the ball broke loose to Joe Willock – he fired home with relish to gift the Magpies a 95th minute equaliser.

Afterwards, Klopp was critical of his frontmen. “[The result is] very tough to take, but there is nobody else to blame but ourselves,” he said. “When you create chances like we created today and you don’t use them, then you keep the game open.

“I need time to be frustrated, I need time to be angry and when that is over then we go again.”

Let’s hope his players produce an ‘angry’ performance against Manchester United on Sunday, with a four-point gap now separating the Reds from Chelsea in the fourth and final Champions League berth.

Liverpool Team News

Klopp went for the 4-2-3-1 system we had outlined in our preview of the Newcastle game, although it would be a surprise if he followed suit at Old Trafford this week.

He will surely bolster the midfield by bringing in another enforcer – either Fabinho moving forward from central defence or James Milner – to replace one of the attackers….probably Firmino or Jota.

Much will depend on the fitness of Nat Phillips, who is still yet to return to full training. If he is unable to start against United, expect Fabinho to continue at centre back and Milner to come in – probably for Jota, who was hauled off after 58 minutes against Newcastle.

There are no other injury concerns, so it’s very much a case of as you were.

Manchester United Form

Said through gritted teeth, it’s been a decent season for Manchester United.

Into the Europa League semi-final, the Red Devils are also likely to finish second in the premier League too – that would certainly be considered a positive campaign given that it was only a few months since the ‘Ole out’ brigade were in full voice.

You have to go back to January 27 to find the last time that Manchester United last lost in the Premier League – a shock 1-2 reverse at the hands of Sheffield United – but otherwise they have embarked on a formline of W7 D6 L0.

The main hope for Liverpool is that United have failed to find the net in four of those, and they have just one clean sheet in four outings – although those are straws being clutched ahead of what will be a tremendously difficult game.

Manchester United vs Liverpool Betting Tips

Manchester United have a Europa League semi-final first leg clash with Roma to overcome on Thursday.

While that will take place at Old Trafford – so there’s no travel to consider, it will surely still be something of a distraction for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and his troops.

That’s the hope, anyway, because otherwise it’s difficult to make a concrete case for Liverpool to prevail in this one.

The Reds are favourites with the bookmakers – a position it’s hard to really justify, and so United are what might be considered a value bet at 2/1 – the draw, at 13/5, is also worthy of consideration.

On paper, this is a fixture that you suspect should have goals, but it very rarely turns out that way – respect, and a desperate desire not to lose, are probably the causes of that.

In their last ten Premier League meetings, only two have breached the Over 2.5 Goals line and just four have covered the Both Teams to Score mark – as such, we’ll be taking the ‘unders’ line at a sultry 21/20.