Pressure Mounts Ahead of Anfield Showdown
For two teams who are so rich in footballing history, there can’t have been many match-ups between Manchester United and Liverpool with more riding on it for both managers.
This month the two face-off at Anfield for one of the most crucial clashes for both sides for many a year.
For United the defeat could spell the end for Ruben Amorim as manager, the Portuguese boss having not managed to win back-to-back league games in his time at the club.
For Arne Slot, the pressure is not so high, he won the League in his first season after all, but nonetheless, Liverpool went into the international break on the back of a run that saw them lose three straight games — a fourth at home to their biggest rivals will start to see some questions being asked, especially when the club spent north of £400 million in the summer.
The Odds and What’s at Stake
The bookies are convinced the difference in ability will tell, though, that Liverpool will put an end to their worst run under Slot as Bet365 have them as 4/7 to take all three points.
Ladbrokes, meanwhile, have them at 3/5, while Boylesports have them at 11/20.
United are priced at 4/1 with Bet365 and Ladbrokes have them at 17/4 while Boylesports have them at 4/1.
A draw is all the way out at 10/3 with Ladbrokes and Bet365, whereas Boylesports have the honours being split at 16/5.
Amorim’s Struggle for Consistency
And if they are to take a draw, or even a win, United will need to build on that showing they had against Sunderland last time out.
With Senne Lammens in goal and a now well-worn defence in front of him of Lenny Yoro, Luke Shaw and Matthijs de Ligt, United are building some unity back there, and with Benjamin Šeško grabbing a goal in that game, they might have found someone who can help with the goals at the other end as well.
On paper there is nothing wrong with this United team — they have ability, experience, and big-money signings. The problem all along has been getting them to gel in Amorim’s favoured 3-5-2 formation.
Fans and pundits alike have called for him to go back to a 4-3-2-1 formation, one that could fit all of his stars in easily enough, but Amorim has come out and said his style will work — it will just take time.
But that is the one thing the United boss might be running out of.
Slot’s Liverpool Under the Microscope
He has yet to win back-to-back games in the league, as mentioned above, and far too often one good result is followed by a major downfall in performance.
And that cannot be allowed to happen for a United team going to Anfield, as a defeat there could spell the end for Amorim.
And Slot would like nothing more right now, as for the first time since taking charge of Liverpool in the summer of 2024, questions are being asked of him.
Like why after spending so much money in the summer transfer window do Liverpool look worse as a team than they did last year?
How can they get the best out of new signings Alexander Isak and Wirtz without taking away from Mo Salah and the talent they had in place before?
And the main question is how do they shore up a defence that is averaging more than a goal a game being put past them right now?
Because to many that is where the problem is and that is where Liverpool should have sent some of that money in the summer.
True, they tried to get Marc Guehi from Palace, but they did leave it very late to do so, and the way he has performed there is no doubt that he would have made a difference.
But Liverpool have a defence that has included two new fullbacks this season, and now with Alisson out for six weeks it will also have a new goalkeeper behind them.
Crystal Palace, Galatasaray and Chelsea have all shown in the last two weeks that this Liverpool side have gaps in their armour that they just did not have last year, and Manchester United will be hoping that they too can take advantage of them.
If they don’t, the headlines on Monday morning after the game might be Southgate in at United rather than Amorim pushing United forward — and for Slot, that will ease any sort of pressure from building even more on his reigning Premier League Champions.