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We look ahead to Sunday’s Premier League game at Old Trafford with our Man Utd vs Liverpool prediction and preview. Can Michael Carrick’s side clinch Champions League qualification?
Man Utd vs Liverpool: The Key Stats
- Manchester United are slight favourites with the Opta supercomputer this weekend, winning against Liverpool in 42.8% of the 10,000 pre-match simulations.
- Man Utd have won just three of their last 19 Premier League games against Liverpool (D9 L7).
- Only in their opening five matches of the season have Liverpool enjoyed a longer winning run in the Premier League than their ongoing run of three victories.
Just three points separate Manchester United and Liverpool in the Premier League table, and both sides are closing in on confirming qualification for next season’s Champions League.
United sit third in the standings after their win over Brentford on Monday, 11 points clear of Brighton heading into Matchday 35, knowing they only need two more points to make sure of their place in UEFA’s premier competition.
Liverpool, meanwhile, sit three points behind them, having leapfrogged Aston Villa with victory over Crystal Palace last time out. They still need five points to confirm UCL qualification, though both teams along with Villa look set to finish in the top five places according to the Opta supercomputer. United are currently projected to do so 99.8% of simulations, while Liverpool (97.6%) and Villa (97.6%) follow close behind.
And the Reds will feel confident they can take another big step closer to their goal at Old Trafford. They come into this one off the back of consecutive league wins over Fulham, Everton and Palace. Only in their opening five matches of the season have they enjoyed a longer winning run in the Premier League than their ongoing run of three victories.
Liverpool, however, have won only one of their last 12 league games against sides starting the day in the top three (D7 L4).
Arne Slot’s men have struggled on the road at times this season and had lost two back-to-back trips to Wolves and Brighton before snatching a dramatic last-gasp victory over Everton at Hill Dickinson Stadium in their last away game.
Liverpool have won just four of their last 23 away Premier League matches against teams starting the day in the top half of the table (D10 L9), though that win over the Toffees ended a winless run of seven straight such games.
United will be fairly confident they can walk away with victory this weekend, given their turn in fortunes since Michael Carrick took over in January. Since his first game in charge this season, the Red Devils have won more points than any other side (29).
His nine wins in 13 matches (D2 L2) are already more than Ruben Amorim managed in his 20 games in 2025-26 (W8 D7 L5).
And United have turned Old Trafford into a difficult place to visit once more. They have won the third-most home points in the Premier League this season (36) – last season, they were 14th in the home table with 24 points.
The Red Devils have won six of their last seven at their home venue, losing the other to Leeds United 2-1 last month.
A key part of that has been Bruno Fernandes’ impressive form. After setting up Benjamin Sesko’s goal against Brentford, he has now assisted 19 Premier League goals this term, just one behind the season record set by Thierry Henry (2002-03) and Kevin De Bruyne (2019-20).
He has scored or assisted in each of his last eight appearances at Old Trafford, becoming just the third player to have such a run after Cristiano Ronaldo (March-November 2008, 10 straight) and Wayne Rooney (December 2009-March 2010, 8 straight).
United will be looking to Fernandes to make inroads again, but Liverpool look set to be without one of their star players in Mohamed Salah, though he is expected to return before the end of the season after suffering a minor muscle injury against Palace.
The Egyptian will be a big miss for the Reds, as he’s scored more goals against the Red Devils both overall (13) and away from home (7) than any other player in the competition’s history.
But in his absence, Alexander Isak will be hoping to mark his 100th Premier League appearance by scoring in successive league appearances for Liverpool for the first time. He found the net against Palace, and also scored against United at Old Trafford for Newcastle in his previous visit there last season.
As for team news, Man Utd will be without the suspended Lisandro Martínez, while Matthijs de Ligt remains out with a back injury. Matheus Cunha and Luke Shaw are also doubts.
Liverpool will be without Salah, Conor Bradley, Giovanni Leoni, Wataru Endo and Hugo Ekitiké, but may welcome back Alisson in goal after third-choice stopper Freddie Woodman impressed last week in the win over Palace. Giorgi Mamardashvili remains sidelined after suffering a knee injury at Everton, but Alisson is close to returning.
Man Utd vs Liverpool Head-to-Head
Man Utd have won just three of their last 19 Premier League games against Liverpool (D9 L7), though are looking to complete the league double over the Reds for the first time since 2015-16.
United won the reverse fixture 2-1 at Anfield in October, with Bryan Mbeumo and Harry Maguire scoring for the visitors either side of Cody Gakpo’s equaliser.
Liverpool have won three of their last five away league games against United (D1 L1), as many as in their previous 18 visits to Old Trafford (D3 L12).
The Reds won this exact fixture 3-0 last season – victory here would see Arne Slot become the first-ever Liverpool manager to win both of his first two away league games against United.
Man Utd vs Liverpool Prediction
The Opta supercomputer gives United a slight edge, with a 42.8% chance of completing a league double over Liverpool.
The Reds are still given a 30.5% likelihood of leaving Manchester with all three points, while this is the most likely draw in the Premier League on Matchday 35, with 26.7% of the simulations finishing level.
Man Utd vs Liverpool Predicted Lineups
Manchester United: Senne Lammens, Noussair Mazraoui, Harry Maguire, Ayden Heaven, Diogo Dalot, Casemiro, Kobbie Mainoo, Bruno Fernandes, Amad Diallo, Bryan Mbeumo, Benjamin Sesko.
Interim Head Coach: Michael Carrick
Liverpool: Freddie Woodman, Curtis Jones, Ibrahima Konaté, Virgil van Dijk, Andy Robertson, Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Cody Gakpo, Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak.
Head Coach: Arne Slot
Opta Power Rankings
The Opta Power Rankings are a global team ranking system that assigns an ability score to over 13,000 domestic football teams on a scale between zero and 100, where zero is the worst-ranked team in the world, and 100 is the best team in the world.
Ahead of kick-off at Old Trafford this weekend, here is the Opta Power Ranking for both sides.
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