Manchester United v Liverpool: Only Manchester City have defeated Jürgen Klopp more as Liverpool boss

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22 PL points between two teams 

Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool go to Old Trafford this Sunday, two points clear at the top of the Premier League table. They know another win at their old rivals would be a crucial step on the road to trying to win just their second ever Premier League title. The Reds may take some confidence in the fact there have been some real thumpings of Manchester United in recent years. A 7-0 win at Anfield last year followed a 4-0 victory in the same stadium the previous season. Add to that a 5-0 mauling in Manchester in the 2021/22 campaign. However, despite Klopp boasting a very tidy 37-18 aggregate score from all his matches against Man United, the German has only won seven of his 20 games against the Red Devils.

Sunday’s showdown at the Theatre of Dreams, will be the last time Klopp takes his Liverpool team to Old Trafford for this historic fixture. The German only has eight Premier League games left in charge of the club, and the jury is still out on who will replace him as manager next season. Sporting boss Rúben Amorim is the current front-runner, after Bayer Leverkusen’s Xabi Alonso ruled himself out by committing to the German outfit. Here at Transfermarkt, we have taken a look back and dug into the stats from all of Klopp’s meetings with Man United. Is there any hope for Erik ten Hag’s Man United to cause an upset?

Since Klopp has been at the helm at Liverpool, Man United have had no less than five managers. Louis van Gaal, José Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjær, Ralf Rangnick and ten Hag have all tried their hand. But let’s start by rewinding to Klopp’s first experience of this rivalry. Back in January 2016, Van Gaal’s United defeated Liverpool 1-0 at Anfield thanks to a late Wayne Rooney goal. Although this was just the start of Klopp’s transformation at the club, and none of the players that played that day remain at Liverpool football club today. To this day, it also remains the only occasion where Man United have beaten Klopp’s Liverpool at Anfield in any competition.

At Old Trafford there’s been a bit more success for the Red Devils, and despite the aforementioned 5-0 crushing in 2021, it’s proved to be a tricky hunting ground for Klopp down the years. In fact, Liverpool have lost on their last two trips to the ground, including the 4-3 defeat in the FA Cup just a few weeks ago. Ten Hag’s team also won 2-1 in the Premier league fixture at Old Trafford last season. In both of those victories Man United were very much set up to absorb pressure and hit Liverpool on the counter attack, and it’s likely to be the same tactics that Ten Hag employs this Sunday. 

A 21st win of the season may not be as simple as it seems. In fact, as can be seen in the table above, since Klopp became Liverpool manager in 2015, Manchester City (8) are the only team with more victories against the Reds than Man United (5). One man that may have the Red Devils quaking in their boots however, is Mohamed Salah. Back on form and back to fitness, the Egyptian has 13 goals in 14 games against Man United. Salah hasn’t scored more goals against any other team in his career, and no other player has more than seven goals in that same timeframe from those fixtures. Salah also has 12 goals in his last eight games against the Red Devils. He has been a constant thorn in United’s side, and ten Hag will have to come up with a solid game plan to attempt to nullify the Egyptian if his team are to take anything from the game this Sunday.

Speaking ahead of the huge clash, manager Klopp admitted getting three points won’t be easy: “United is a top side playing at home, we all know that. We have to find a way to cause United problems and they will try exactly the same. With this opponent, in this stadium, we better play a really good football game, if we want something there.” His opponent ten Hag is a man under pressure after the capitulation which saw them fall apart and turn a victory into a defeat in the dying seconds at Chelsea this week, leaving the Red Devils 22 behind their opponents Liverpool in the table. Following that loss, ten Hag passionately ranted, “We will be mad, angry and you can take a lot of energy from that and that is the way we have to do it.” Man United will have to be at their A game to take a result from Sunday’s showdown, but history has shown, against the odds, it’s happened before. 

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