Man Utd predicted line-up vs. Liverpool: three major changes made as £197m trio drop out of starting XI

Manchester United will have to pick themselves up and dust themselves down following their stoppage time defeat against Chelsea on Thursday evening as they prepare for an unenviable trip to Anfield to face bitter rivals Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon.

The Red Devils were unravelled by two late strikes from Cole Palmer in a 4-3 loss at Stamford Bridge in midweek, and now find themselves sixth in the table, nine points adrift of Tottenham Hotspur above them.

In direct contrast, Liverpool returned to the summit with a relatively comfortable 3-1 win over relegation-threatened Sheffield United on Thursday, and will be eager to avoid a repeat of the disappointment that dumped them out of the FA Cup when United last came to Merseyside a few weeks ago.

But how will both sides line up on Sunday? We’ve taken a closer look at their respective team news and predicted XIs below...

Manchester United Team News

United continue to struggle with injury, and their woes were made notably worse by a double blow involving defensive duo Lisandro Martinez and Victor Lindelof recently. Neither are expected to play again this month. Likewise, Luke Shaw remains sidelined, while Jonny Evans and Raphael Varane are both doubts and are likely to face late assessments before decisions are made on their availability. Long term absentee Tyrell Malacia is still a little way off full fitness.

Elsewhere, Casemiro was substituted against Chelsea, and could miss out on Sunday’s clash, while striker Anthony Martial is still recovering from groin surgery, and may not play again until late April. Speaking about the Frenchman at the end of January, Erik ten Hag said: 'Anthony has completed successful surgery to address a groin complaint and will be out of action for about ten weeks as he rehabilitates.'

There is, however, more optimistic news regarding deputy goalkeeper Altay Bayindir, who should be fit enough to make Ten Hag’s match day squad this weekend.

Manchester United Predicted XI

Andre Onana; Diogo Dalot, Harry Maguire, Willy Kambwala, Aaron Wan-Bissaka; Scott McTominay, Kobbie Mainoo; Alejandro Garnacho, Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford; Rasmus Hojlund.

Liverpool Team News

For their part, Liverpool have a number of injury issues of their own to contend with. First choice goalkeeper Alisson Becker is still sidelined with a thigh problem, but should return to full training next week. Likewise, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Diogo Jota are both still a little way off making their respective comebacks. As explained by Jurgen Klopp: 'Diogo and Trent are together in a group, which helps both, but [it] looks like from next week on, they will be hopefully in parts of team training, and then we will see the rest.'

Joel Matip will not play again this season after rupturing his ACL in December, while in midfield, Thiago Alcantara and Stefan Bajcetic are both still on the treatment table. Wataru Endo will face a late assessment, and may be fit enough to feature in some capacity.

Liverpool Predicted XI

Caoimhin Kelleher; Conor Bradley, Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Andy Robertson; Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister, Ryan Gravenberch; Mo Salah, Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz.