Confirmed XI: De Ligt and Zirkzee start for United against Liverpool; No place for new signing Ugarte on the bench, which is understandable

Manchester United welcome Liverpool to the Theatre of Dreams on Sunday afternoon in the Premier League. United have had a mixed start to the season after beating Fulham 1-0 in the opening match of the season but fell to a 2-1 defeat to Brighton last weekend.

Liverpool have started the season in good form despite the change of manager, beating both Ipswich Town and Brentford with the same 2-0 scorelines. United will need to rise to the challenge of Liverpool in this match with both league matches last season being draws; 0-0 and 2-2.

United only got the better of Liverpool in the Emirates FA Cup last season, beating them 4-3, which eventually saw them reach the final, beating Manchester City 2-1 at Wembley. Erik ten Hag’s side is much different to the one which last played Liverpool, which should hopefully be the difference.

Manchester United

Onana;

Mazraoui, De Ligt, Martinez, Dalot;

Mainoo, Casemiro;

Garnacho, Fernandes, Rashford;

Zirkzee

Substitutes

Bayındır, Heaton; Maguire, Evans; Eriksen, Collyer; Amad, Antony, Wheatley

Liverpool

Alisson;

Alexander-Arnold, Konaté, van Dijk, Robertson;

Gravenberch, Mac Allister;

Salah, Szoboszlai, Diaz;

Jota

Substitutes

Kelleher, Gomez, Tsimikas, Quansah, Bradley, Endo, Elliott, Nunez, Gakpo

United will need to be better than they were against Liverpool in the Premier League last season. It was a 0-0 draw at Anfield and a 2-2 draw at Old Trafford as neither team got the better of the other. United did beat Liverpool in the Emirates FA Cup though, which is what they need to do on Sunday.

Ten Hag’s side lack something at this stage of the season with many injuries causing problems with Mason Mount just announcing that he will be out of action for a period of time, after a positive pre-season and a good start to the season from him. United needs to overcome these injuries.

If United can get an early goal and build on it, it is possible that they could scrape the victory. However, Liverpool have done well in their two opening Premier League matches, winning 2-0 in each of them. United will be required to work hard and take their chances to get the victory.

Written by Paul