Thursday 10th March 2016 Kickoff 2005hrs Liverpool v Manchester United Football – Europe – Europa League
The Europa League is certainly not the competition that either Liverpool or Manchester United want to be competing in, but their participation of this year’s running has certainly been made more interesting as they two old foes were drawn against each other. Surprisingly, this will be the first time the two clubs have met each other in European competition and, as ever, there will certainly be no love lost over the course of the two legs.
The Europa League now appears Liverpool’s only chance of gaining success this year following their agonising defeat in the final of the League Cup at the end of February. Jurgen Klopp chose to prioritise that competition – and this one – ahead of the FA Cup and it’s no real shocking considering they stage they were at in the League Cup and the fact that the Europa League offers a path into Europe’s premier club competition, next season. The aggregate score in the previous round against Augsburg certainly did not reflect Liverpool’s overall dominance of the tie, which should have been far more comfortable than the 1-0 it eventually finished. Nonetheless, it further illustrated a problem that has continued to plague Liverpool throughout this campaign, which is their inability to take chances that come their way – or at least, enough of them. Klopp will be hoping that Daniel Sturridge’s return to action – and getting a few games under his belt – will prove to be the difference in crucial games such as the one they face on Thursday at Anfield.
Louis Van Gaal’s Manchester United are only competing in this competition following their dismal failure in the group stages of the Champions League. United finished a poor third behind Wolfsburg and PSV and, as a result, have dropped into the lesser competition of the two. Van Gaal used the opportunity of a very winnable draw against Danish outfit Midtjylland to blood some youngsters and it eventually paid off after a surprise loss in the first leg. The Red Devils ended up comfortably progressing (winning 6-3 on aggregate) with much of the attention on the dramatic emergence of Marcus Rashford who scored two goals on his full debut. The young forward has since enhanced his reputation further by netting a double in the league game against Arsenal and he could feature in this game as well. Whether the manager opts to use as many of his younger stars remains to be seen, though, as a number of his more experience players begin to return. Another consideration is United’s defeat to West Brom on Sunday make put more attention on the Europa League with the top four looking more unlikely by the week as they hunt entry to the Champions League.
Klopp certainly showed his hand on Sunday as Liverpool faced off against Crystal Palace in the Premier League. With little to play for other than pride, domestically, the German gave some of his key players a rest. Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho started on the bench, and whilst the latter appeared for the last half hour, it was a clear sign of intent as Klopp tries to get as a far as possible in the Europa League. Liverpool are still yet lose in this season’s competition which should boost their confidence as they prepare to face a team that they have already lost to twice this season in the league. Although they have not lost in Europe this term, the Reds have certainly not been overly impressive either so there is an argument that they will have to improve if they are to progress to the quarter-finals.
There has been much speculation around the future of Van Gaal at Manchester United and there’s still uncertainty whether or not he will be around to see out his three-year contract. Despite some glimpses of hope recently, particularly the emergence of some of the young players and the win over Arsenal, there is still plenty of concerns surrounding his style of football and that was reflected in the performance against West Brom on Sunday. Although Juan Mata was sent off in the first half, United failed to offer any real attacking threat and looked clueless about how to break down a determined Baggies side. The Dutchman will be looking for another morale boosting win over their arch rivals to try and give him some more breathing space – and possibly save his job.
Liverpool v Manchester United Betting Tips
Neither Liverpool or Manchester United are anywhere near their previous glory days, and whilst the quality in each squad is definitely down on previous seasons, it should make these next couple of encounters of the two no less interesting. United hold the upper hand in meetings this season, winning 3-1 at Old Trafford back in September before a 1-0 success at Anfield at the beginning of 2016. The change in competition is likely to have an effect on how this game is played, though, particularly as it’s over two legs.
Three points currently separate these two clubs in the Premier League following results at the weekend but Liverpool have a game in hand which indicates that there is very little to choose between both sides – and I think that is reflected in the games they have played this season. Both managers have great experience of European football and it will be interesting to see how they approach this first leg. The atmosphere at Anfield on European night is always special and that will be even more apparent as they play host to their old foe. In terms of a selection for this match, from the analysis above, I considered opting for under 2.5 goals as both teams are expected to be cautious in the opening stages with so much football to play over the course of two ties. Instead of that bet, however, I make the draw a better value bet. There is virtually nothing to split these two teams at present and I can see that being the case over the 90 minutes on Thursday.
Draw 12/5 @ Sportingbet
