It is arguably the first of the biggest fixtures in the English Premier League to take place this season and the battle line will be drawn at Old Trafford. United are currently 19th on the EPL table having lost two of their already played matches while Liverpool are not any better since they seat at position 15. Erik Ten Hag would have been under no illusions as to the size of the task facing him at Old Trafford when he took the job in May, but the reality of the situation has become even more apparent to the 52-year-old in the early stages of his reign as Red Devils boss. United opened their 2022/23 campaign with a 2-1 defeat at home to Brighton subsequently followed by an embarrassing 3-0 loss to Brentford. The two defeats, coupled with the already-poor goal difference, has left the Red Devils at a bad spot in the division, and another loss on Monday evening would lead to more pressure on Ten Hag, who has been tasked with helping to rebuild arguably the biggest football club on the planet.

The team's summer transfer business thus far has been modest at best, bringing in Tyrell Malacia, Christian Eriksen, and Lisandro Martinez but the club have now agreed to a deal with Casemiro and are still in pursuit of Ajax player Anthony and Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong. Not too much can be read into the league table at this stage of the campaign, but a win over Liverpool, who only have two points from their first two matches, would take the 20-time English champions above their rivals in the division and potentially act as a springboard to go on a strong run. Man United will finish August away to Southampton before traveling to Leicester City at the start of September, three days before a huge fixture against Arsenal at Old Trafford. Arsenal have had an opposite start of the season with three straight wins and are now currently seating at the top of the Premier League table. We can tell that they will be a tough match for Manchester United. United finished at position 6 last season. which was 13 points behind 4th placed Tottenham. This is an indication that things need to be turned around for the club to get back to competing in UEFA Champions League spots. More signings need to be made at Old Trafford before the expiration of the transfer window.

In their two meetings last season, Liverpool totally embarrassed United thrashing them an aggregate of 9-0. Cristiano Ronaldo's transfer saga continues to dominate conversations at United and it will be fascinating to see if he will be on the starting lineup for this particular match. His potential exit from the club before the end of the month is still a huge possibility. Such is the level that has been set by Liverpool and Manchester City in recent seasons, the back-to-back draws for the Reds at the start of the new Premier League season are far from ideal, especially considering that Man City have won their opening two matches and already sit four points ahead of the Merseyside giants. On the opening weekend, Liverpool twice had to come from behind in order to secure a draw against Fulham. The Merseyside giants also conceded first against their tie with Crystal Palace. The Reds need to be careful that Manchester City does not open up a healthy advantage in the early stages of the campaign. Jurgen Klopp's side have back-to-back home games after this fixture against Bournemouth and Newcastle United before the small matter of a trip to Goodison Park to take on Everton in the Merseyside derby.

During last season's campaign, Liverpool took Manchester City all the way to the last game before they lost the title race to their modern Premier League rivals and fans were expecting to see such a rivalry again and better still as soon as the beginning of the season. The Reds were on a quadruple chase last season but only managed to bag the Carabao Cup and Emirates FA Cup titles but succumbed to a defeat against Real Madrid in the Champions League final before Manchester City finished one point in front of them on the last day of an exciting EPL season. While Manchester United have lost their last four Premier League matches, including their last two fixtures of the 2021-22 campaign, Liverpool are unbeaten in their last 21 league games. The statistics, therefore are fairly in favour of Liverpool.  The Reds' business in the transfer market seems to be complete having bagged themselves Nunez, Fabio Carvalho, Calvin Ramsay, and are still in hot pursuit of Jude Bellingham. It will be a thrilling encounter at Old Trafford tonight nonetheless as two old foes battle it out for 3 critical points.