Manchester United vs. Liverpool 2017: Prediction, Start Time, Team News For Premier League Rivalry Clash

It’s amazing what a few weeks and six straight Premier League wins can do. After a run of one win in eight games, Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho was in a surly mood earlier in the season, bristling at the media and suggestions that his best years may be behind him. Back then had a phone rung in the middle of a press conference previewing a massive contest against Liverpool he might well have flung it across the room.

But in the midst of what is perhaps the club’s most encouraging run since the retirement of legendary boss Sir Alex Ferguson three-and-a-half years ago, Mourinho, instead, playfully answered the reporter’s phone Friday. There is a very different mood around the club than when it visited Anfield in October.

“The results are better and that changed a lot of things,” Mourinho said ahead of Sunday’s encounter. “At that time I had less time working with my players, now I have a little bit more, we know each other better, we have a certain way to play football, we don’t have just the good performances, we have also the happiness of the good results.”

Adding to Mourinho’s high spirits, he is expecting to have striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic and defender Marcos Rojo back available Sunday after recent ailments.

Despite six wins in a row, United remain sixth in the Premier League table. But the team is now within three points of third-placed Tottenham, offering plenty of incentive to go for a victory against its eternal foe.

At Anfield, the two teams played out a drab, goalless result, with Mourinho evidently content to try to contain Liverpool’s feared attacking intensity. But Jurgen Klopp’s side do not go into Sunday’s encounter in the quite the same devastating form.

The side has now gone three matches without a win, with a draw against relegation-threatened Sunderland being followed by a goalless stalemate against fourth-tier Plymouth Argyle in the FA Cup and a 1-0 defeat to Southampton in the first leg of their EFL Cup semifinal in midweek.

For Liverpool, the Premier League’s top scorers with 48 goals in 20 matches, two games without finding the net represents a drought. Particularly with Sadio Mane now with Senegal at the African Cup of Nations, it is therefore the perfect time for the return to fitness of the team’s creative spark.

After six weeks on the sidelines, Philippe Coutinho came off the bench for the last 29 minutes against Southampton and could now be included in the starting lineup at Old Trafford. Yet Klopp has insisted that there is more to getting back on the scoring track than just personnel.

“We could do it before without [the likes of Coutinho],” he said in his pre-match press conference. “They are all important but it’s not about the players we miss, it’s only about being patient enough, being clear enough and speeding up in the right moment.

“There was only one game where we didn’t create a lot of chances – that was the last one. That’s how it is always in life. If something doesn’t work, you have to think about it.

“We know what we have to do to create more chances, but especially ahead of the United game we don’t have to think too much about dominance and all that stuff. We need to think about different things and that’s what we [have done].

Prediction: It is hard to imagine Sunday’s matchup being quite as dull as the teams’ October encounter. In front of his home fans, Mourinho is unlikely to be so cautious and his team is also playing with far more fluidity going forward. On the other side, Liverpool will miss the pace and directness of Mane but can still be a real threat. It is likely to be a game of fine margins, but home advantage might just tell for Mourinho’s men.

Predicted Score: Manchester United 2-1 Liverpool

Kickoff Time: Sunday, 11 a.m. EST
TV Channel: NBCSN
Live Stream: NBC Sports Live Extra