Man Utd vs Liverpool: Ten Hag’s attack, Robertson’s runs and a real test for Gravenberch

Sunday, Old Trafford, 4pm BST (or 11am ET, if that’s more useful to you…).

Are you ready for the resumption of one of the biggest rivalries in English football?

Manchester United take on Liverpool in a game between two Dutch managers, with plenty of tactical intrigue and heaps of drama. The rivalry between the two clubs is about history, culture and bragging rights.

Both clubs made late moves in the transfer window, Liverpool signing Federico Chiesa from Juventus and United completing their deal for Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Manuel Ugarte. Coach Arne Slot says Chiesa is unlikely to feature today at Old Trafford, while Ugarte was not signed before the midday deadline on Friday that would have allowed him to play. So it’s a chance for more established players at each club to leave their mark.

Liverpool go into the game with six points from their opening two matches in the Premier League, winning 2-0 against both Ipswich Town and Brentford. United, meanwhile, have three points. They beat Fulham 1-0 in the season’s Friday-night opening fixture but then lost 2-1 away against Brighton & Hove Albion.

We asked one of our Manchester United reporters (Carl Anka), one of our Liverpool team (Andy Jones) and our senior data analyst Mark Carey to address some of the key talking points ahead of kick-off…

---

Ten Hag meets an old foe

Mislabelled by some as a Pep Guardiola disciple upon arriving in England two years ago, Erik ten Hag set about refashioning United into a dangerous transitional team. Victories in the Carabao Cup (2022-23) and FA Cup finals suggest that the plan is working.

Yet the Dutchman is in a strange position as he begins his third season at United. It is rare for a manager to survive the poor results and structural turmoil that occurred at Old Trafford in 2023-24. It is rarer still for a manager to reach his third year in charge of a club with this many question marks over how his team will perform in the biggest games.

It makes a match-up with countryman Slot and Liverpool a dangerous banana skin for Ten Hag. During their years working in the Netherlands, Ten Hag won two and lost two in head-to-heads with Slot. His Ajax team lost both of their games during 2019-20 against Slot-led AZ Alkmaar. But Ten Hag’s Amsterdam side did the double over Slot’s Feyenoord in 2021-22.

Their most recent unofficial meeting was this summer, during their respective pre-season tours to the United States, when Liverpool were comfortable 3-0 winners against United in Columbia, South Carolina, thanks to goals from Fabio Carvalho, Curtis Jones and Kostas Tsimikas.

Sunday will be the first occasion when Ten Hag will be the (bookmaker’s) underdog when facing Slot.

The big question for United fans is: how does their manager shrug off comparisons to the other talented Dutch manager working in the 2024-25 Premier League, and restore some momentum to the early stages of their team’s season?

Carl Anka

---

Banishing Liverpool’s demons from last season

Amad’s winner in the 120th minute of Manchester United’s 4-3 extra-time FA Cup victory at Old Trafford back in March derailed Liverpool’s season, sending them into a downward spiral that they were unable to recover from.

Missed chances, poor decision-making and costly errors were the common themes in both that defeat and a 2-2 draw, also at Old Trafford, in the Premier League three weeks later. 

Liverpool led 2-1 at half-time in the cup tie and were superior in the second half, but were unable to score a decisive third goal, allowing United to equalise and take the game to extra time. It was a similar story in the league fixture. Liverpool were superior in the first half, executing their game plan to perfection, but only led 1-0 despite their dominance (15 shots to United’s zero). Jarell Quansah’s misplaced pass early in the second half teed up Bruno Fernandes’ equaliser and Liverpool were left scrambling.

There can be no repeat of those mistakes.

Slot does not hold those emotional scars — although his only visit to Old Trafford as manager of AZ in December 2019 resulted in a 4-0 defeat in the group phase of the Europa League — and Liverpool have had some excellent results there in recent seasons. He must use that and make sure there is no hangover.

A fresh approach and a refreshed mindset will hopefully banish those memories for good. 

Andy Jones

---

Keep an eye on Liverpool’s underlapping runs

Liverpool fans have had two Premier League games to spot the tactical tweaks that Slot has made to the squad, and one that stood out last weekend was the frequent underlapping runs on both flanks — particularly from left-back Andy Robertson.

Slot likes to keep his wingers close to the touchline to stretch the play, creating one-v-one situations by isolating the opposition full-backs and forcing them to step out and engage. This creates gaps in the opponent’s back line for Slot’s full-backs to exploit, and is a tactic the Dutchman actively worked on during pre-season.

Robertson’s performance against Brentford was reminiscent of his swashbuckling self under Jurgen Klopp, after taking up more reserved positions last season to allow Trent Alexander-Arnold to push into midfield areas. There were multiple occasions where the 30-year-old demanded the ball inside with underlapping runs, which provided multiple benefits.

If he received it, he was in an optimal position to either provide a cutback or take on the shot himself. If he didn’t receive it, he was still able to drag an opposition player away and allow his left-winger to cut inside.

With United still showing some indecision in defence in their opening two games, Robertson’s penetrating runs inside the opposition full-back could be a feature to look out for.

Mark Carey

---

How will Ten Hag’s attack work?

Since taking over at United, Ten Hag has lost to Liverpool once in five official meetings. But that was a 7-0 shellacking at Anfield in March 2023, a hiding that was the result of over-ambition in the forward press and some freakish finishing by their opponents.

On that day, the United manager curiously asked Fernandes to play left wing, with Marcus Rashford as the centre-forward and 6ft 5in (197cm) Wout Weghorst as a No 10.

Ten Hag has mixed up his attacking options on multiple occasions when facing Liverpool, and Sunday’s game presents an interesting conundrum. Does he continue the 4-2-4 system used in the previous games, which defends in a compact shape but can be a little toothless? Or will he revert to his tried and tested 4-2-3-1 that we saw throughout much of his first season in charge?

A hamstring injury to Mason Mount (and the sale of Scott McTominay) throws a wrench into his plans. Ten Hag could replace Mount in the starting line-up with Joshua Zirkzee in attack and continue with the 4-2-4, but the Netherlands international is more of a facilitator than an outright goalscorer. If the manager reverts to the 4-2-3-1, he might give Alejandro Garnacho a starting role. The 20-year-old offers more of a direct running threat and could force Liverpool’s defenders to scramble back to their own goal.

Ugarte has not been registered in time to play, meaning Ten Hag is likely to start Kobbie Mainoo and Casemiro in central midfield again. The England international scored one of the goals of last season in that league game against Liverpool in April.

If Mainoo could repeat the trick today, United fans would be very grateful.

Carl Anka

---

Ryan Gravenberch: The real test

Following Liverpool’s failed pursuit of Real Sociedad’s Martin Zubimendi, Slot has had to look internally for a solution to the long-running No 6 issue. 

In the opening two games, Ryan Gravenberch has been deployed in that role — and earned praise for his performances. Promoted Ipswich and a game at Anfield against Brentford are different propositions to a trip to Old Trafford, though. This will be a step up for the 22-year-old in a position that he is still learning. 

Slot’s prototypical No 6 is not the stereotypical midfield destroyer. He needs that player to be confident and secure in possession, press-resistant and capable of progressing the ball in the first stage of Liverpool’s build-up. These are all qualities Gravenberch possesses, with his technical quality and ability to manipulate his body to smoothly wrong-foot opponents.  

Ironically, today he comes up against the manager who deployed him in a more advanced role when they worked together at Ajax. Playing deeper in midfield, there are more defensive responsibilities. Ten Hag’s United are at their most dangerous in transition so this will provide a stern test of how Gravenberch deals with those out-of-possession challenges against higher-level opposition. 

If he passes this test, it could be another big step towards making that No 6 position his own.

Andy Jones

---

United showing vulnerability at the back post

United were far too defensively open for Ten Hag’s liking last season, and the early signs in this one suggest that their 4-2-4 structure is helping them to press effectively and remain compact out of possession.

However, when opponents do reach their defensive third, there are still some creases to iron out — namely their ability to defend back-post crosses. Examples of this came last weekend against Brighton, in a game which saw them concede two soft goals. Whether it was a lack of pressure on the cross or poor marking around the six-yard box, it is clear United need to tighten up in this phase of play.

Noussair Mazraoui’s arrival as the new right-back should be an upgrade on Aaron Wan-Bissaka, whose weakness when trying to defend back-post crosses was a consistent theme of his time at Old Trafford.

Although it was a pre-season warm-up game, Liverpool have already exposed United’s back-post weakness this summer, with Jones crashing into the box onto a Mohamed Salah cross during that match in the U.S. — beating Wan-Bissaka to tap in from close range.

While Wan-Bissaka has since moved on to West Ham, those issues have remained in the early stages of the season.

The ubiquitous threat of Liverpool’s wide players means United’s full-backs will need to remain switched on until the final whistle.

Mark Carey

---

How can I see this game?

Viewers in the United States can watch it on Peacock. In the United Kingdom, the match will be shown on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League.

(Top photos: Getty Images)