Manchester United face Liverpool with desperation on clubs' minds

Manchester United and Liverpool have a deep rivalry featuring some of the world’s best players. In the past, the two had eras of dominating over the Premier League and extending its power into Europe.

Likewise, both had eras of relative failure. Seasons where no player looked to be a difference maker and the results never showed up. Liverpool is past that era of the 2010s. Jürgen Klopp’s takeover at Anfield in the beginning of the 2015/16 season yielded great success for the Reds. In his time, Liverpool won one of every top trophy, with the exception of the community shield.

However, the success came at a cost for the fans. From 2009/10 to 2015/16, Liverpool finished in the top-four of the table just once. Unfortunately, it was that dreadful collapse that saw Manchester City win the league in 2013/14. Surrounding that are two finishes each of sixth, seventh and eighth in the league.

Sling Blue plus Peacock Premium combo worth checking out

Readers wanting to watch Manchester United-Liverpool can watch the game on Peacock Premium. Speaking of Peacock, many fans of Premier League clubs have caught on to the combination of Sling Blue plus Peacock Premium.

For the 2022/23 Premier League season, Sling Blue offers 200 Premier League games via USA Network and NBC for $35/month, which also includes a ton of other sports, news and entertainment channels. Combined with a Peacock Premium subscription at $5 per month, that streaming service offers the remaining 180 games per season. The net result is that you won’t miss a single Premier League match all season.

Of course, Sling Blue offers more too. Well, the price is one thing. At just $35 per month, it is half the price of something like fuboTV, YouTube TV or Hulu + Live TV. Of course, you limit the quantity of channels you have access to. Still, this provides USA Network, home to four or five Premier League games each weekend on average.

Plus, Sling Blue carries NBC in most markets too. Each Saturday, the 12:30 p.m. ET kickoff in the Premier League typically airs on NBC, unless there is other major programming at that time.

Adding it up, Sling Blue and Peacock Premium cost a combined $40 per month. For the soccer fan who is only passionate about the Premier League, there is perhaps no better option when it comes to affordability.

New signings give Manchester United a ray of hope

This season, Manchester United looks set for a difficult challenge. Unwise spending over recent campaigns and inconsistency at the managerial position is producing its consequences. A simply bad performance in the opening matchday against Brighton preceded one of United’s most embarrassing showings in recent years. Brentford did more than destroy Manchester United, 4-0. The Bees sent shockwaves through one of the world’s most popular clubs that change is needed.

At the same time, Liverpool had its own relative struggles. Poor performances in the opening two matchdays has Liverpool on two points from two games. Meanwhile, its principal title challengers, Manchester City, seem to be cruising along with their flashy new Erling Haaland.

It all adds a level of intrigue, albeit not of the kind this fixture usually proposes, to this Monday’s Manchester United clash with Liverpool.

Rocky starts from both

When the Premier League schedule came out, both Manchester United and Liverpool likely saw themselves on six points entering this game. Therefore, it could have been an early impetus for a title push.

The outlook for this game as the table stands with two games played could not be anymore different.

Manchester United resembles something of Arsenal from a season ago. A pair of opening losses (including being shutout by Brentford on the road) without a goal scored. Manchester United does have one goal officially, but even that was an own goal against Brighton. Just like Arsenal, Manchester United’s third game of the season comes against a preseason title challenger. For Arsenal, that was Manchester City, United has Liverpool.

For what it is worth, that terrible start for Arsenal did not get any better in matchday three. Manchester City destroyed that Gunners team at the Etihad, 5-0. Erik ten Hag, still seeking his first points in England, does not have an easy task against Liverpool.

In fact, Liverpool has an added incentive to perform at Old Trafford come Monday. A disappointing draw at home to Crystal Palace came as a result of Palace hitting Liverpool on the counter. Wilfried Zaha was always a threat with Eberechi Eze or Jordan Ayew on either side. Darwin Núñez’s red card for headbutting Joachim Andersen did not help the cause, either. He misses Monday’s game with the ensuing suspension, taking away one of Liverpool’s goal-scorers from this infantile campaign.

Buildup for Manchester United against Liverpool

Clearly, this game lacks some of the vigor of battles prior. That is not a shade to Liverpool, they will find their footing and likely rival Manchester City. It just needs to click into gear now. Manchester United is bad, though. The drama with transfers and the current squad combined with the reactions from the fans indicate that it is panic time at Old Trafford.

Erik ten Hag never had an easy job coming to a club in disarray and trying to make it work. He, like Jürgen Klopp, Mikel Arteta or even Sir Alex Ferguson’s first years, needs time to prove himself by inputting his own system. Right now, some of the players are not up to the skill demanded from a club like Manchester United. However, the solution, at least from the outside looking in, is not to buy any player that could fit in to the squad.

Manchester United fans likely expect a loss against a far-superior Liverpool side. However, it is just growing pains for an already dismal season with England’s most successful club in history.

PHOTO: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images