Liverpool vs Manchester United. Premier League.
AnfieldAttendance43,865.
Sunday 17 January 2016 16:12, UK
Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren will not be fit to return for the Super Sunday clash with Manchester United at Anfield.
The fierce north-west rivals head into the game off the back of two thrilling fixtures in the Premier League in midweek.
Jurgen Klopp's side bagged a 90th-minute equaliser in their 3-3 draw with Arsenal on Wednesday, while the Red Devils conceded late on to draw by the same scoreline at Newcastle the night before.
Team news
Striker Daniel Sturridge, who has been out since the start of December, is still not ready to make his comeback.
Lovren is recovering from a hamstring injury sustained at Stoke earlier this month, while none of the other players on a lengthy injury list are close to fitness.
Bastian Schweinsteiger (knee) and Phil Jones (ankle) are close to comebacks, but Louis van Gaal does not expect either to be available on Sunday, while Michael Carrick is out.
Luke Shaw, Antonio Valencia and Marco Rojo remain long-term absentees, but Adnan Januzaj could return on the bench after his loan spell at Borussia Dortmund was ended.
Opta stats
United have won six of their last eight league meetings with Liverpool (L2) and two of the last four at Anfield (W2 D1 L1).
Only Everton v Liverpool (20) has seen more red cards than this fixture in Premier League history (16), and only Liverpool v Spurs (19) has seen more penalties awarded than this fixture (18).
Van Gaal inflicted Klopp's biggest defeat as Dortmund manager in September 2009 when his Bayern side won 5-1 at Signal Iduna Park.
Wayne Rooney will be looking to score in four successive games for Manchester United for the first time since March 2012.
Rooney (175 goals for Man Utd) is now level with Thierry Henry (175 for Arsenal) for the most goals for a single club in Premier League history.
Paul Merson's prediction
This is shaping up to be a great game. Both teams scored three and conceded three in midweek so I can't see anything but goals in this game.
Liverpool can't defend but they will have a go. A draw is pointless for both teams and because of that it will be a gung-ho football match. Both sides will be going all out for victory and that will make it a superb game to watch.
However, I can't split the two sides and I'm going for a 2-2 draw with Rooney continuing his goal-scoring form.
PAUL PREDICTS: 2-2
Betting
Sky Bet make Liverpool 13/10 favourites with Manchester United 23/10 and the draw 23/10. Only one goal has separated the sides in the last three meetings at Anfield and Liverpool to win by exactly one goal is 11/4 with the visitors by the same margin 7/2. Both sides drew 3-3 in midweek and another six goal thriller is 80/1. Roberto Firmino and Wayne Rooney both netted braces in midweek and are 16/1 and 8/1 respectively to repeat the feat. Check out tips from our Sky Sports pundits Jamie Redknapp, Charlie Nicholas, Phil Thompson and Matt Le Tissier here.
