Manchester United vs Liverpool Betting Tips (13/05/21) – Reds to Take Advantage in Destiny-Defining Week?

To some extent, Liverpool’s fate this season is out of their hands. Their pursuit of a top four finish will be dictated largely by the actions of Leicester City, who can book the final Champions League place with a series of positive results from now until the end of the season.

The definitive force in all this is Manchester United, who take on Leicester at Old Trafford today (May 11) before welcoming Liverpool for the rearranged game on Thursday May 13.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has already intimated that he will need to rest players for one or other of the games, and you suspect that easing will come against the Foxes given that United’s Champions League berth is all but confirmed.

All Liverpool can do is take care of their own business, and they continue to do that to some tune with Saturday’s 2-0 win over Southampton extending their unbeaten run in the Premier League to six games.

The Saints created some decent chances with Liverpool’s inexperienced defensive duo of Nat Phillips and Rhys Williams struggling to keep them at bay, however they couldn’t find a way through and the Reds clicked into gear with half-hour gone.

Mo Salah picked up the ball in a wide area and curled in a delicious cross, and Sadio Mane was there to nod home with some aplomb against his former club.

A howler from Alisson almost gifted Southampton a late equaliser, but after Che Adams squandered that chance the ball moved to the other end of the pitch and Thiago fired home his first Liverpool goal.

The Reds have hit form rather late in the day, and while it might not be enough to book a Champions League spot next season it could still ensure the bragging rights are earned against United on Thursday.

Liverpool Team News

Ozan Kabak, who has grown in maturity in recent weeks, was forced to sit out the Southampton game with a muscle injury.

It has been reported that the young centre back ‘remains a doubt’ for the trip to Old Trafford, and we wouldn’t expect the Phillips-Williams tandem to continue – Fabinho is more likely to step back into defence.

James Milner may make a return although Jurgen Klopp would not be drawn on the midfielder’s fitness when quizzed, while Naby Keita is another lacking in match sharpness.

That could mean that Curtis Jones and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are left to jostle it out for a spot in midfield – the former seems most the most likely victor, while a straight choice between Diogo Jota and Bobby Firmino in attack may also see the former get the nod.

Manchester United Form

These are halcyon days for Manchester United, whose unbeaten run in the Premier League stretches back to January 27. In fact, if you train the lens even further into the distance, you can note that they haven’t lost in domestic action since November 1.

Eight wins and six draws in that time have made Red Devils fans rather chipper, as has a run to the Europa League final.

Five games in 15 days is United’s reward for their progress, and it seems almost a given that Solskjaer will have to chop and change his starting eleven to cope with such a hectic schedule.

Will that play into Liverpool’s hands come Thursday?

Manchester United vs Liverpool Betting Tips

Two teams in the swell of tremendous form meet head on at Old Trafford….how often do such games flatter to deceive?

It will be interesting to see how Solskjaer juggles the Leicester and Liverpool games….will he name two completely different starting elevens for both, or will he task some of his players with turning out twice in 48 hours?

United don’t play a high energy, ultra-pressing game like the Reds and so they could, in theory, suffer less from two games in three days, however this has to be considered a major for Liverpool nonetheless.

When we previewed the original iteration of this game that was cancelled due to the crowd protests, we’d mentioned how often these fixtures flatter to deceive from an entertainment perspective – just two of the last ten league meetings between Manchester United and Liverpool have delivered three or more goals, with only four witnessing both teams scoring.

With potential issues in the United camp over fitness/rotation, we’re taking Liverpool to win a low scoring encounter with Under 2.5 Goals – that pays at a very handsome 5/1.