Liverpool are 19 points ahead of United with Erik Ten Hag fighting for his job and this match is crucial to his survival. Liverpool are struggling with injured players and whereas Jurgen Klopp says Trent Alexander-Arnold is “fine” it is unlikely he will feature unless he makes a very fast recovery this week from his knee injury and Diogo Jota, also suffering a knee injury, will not be available until mid-April. Curtis Jones and Andy Robertson are still suffering pain from ankle problems. Alisson Becker will not be back for another two or three weeks.
Ten Hag has to plan around losing United centre-backs Victor Lindelof and Lisandro Martinez who have muscle injuries but Tyrell Malacia and Jonny Evans have made good progress recovering from their problems. Harry Maguire is also available to bolster the defence. Anthony Martial’s groin injury and Altay Bayindir’s muscle problem seem to be solved and could feature.
United’s main focus this week in training has been on how to stop Luiz and Nunez with their fast pace. Liverpool will set a club record with 35 consecutive goals if they score in this match and United haven’t beaten their deadly rivals in the last seven clashes. Mo Salah will be vital to Klopp’s team going forward and he has scored more goals against United than any other player in the history of the club. If he scores he will also claim 20 goals per season for seven years in a row…the first Liverpool player to do that. He isn’t fully fit however and he will face either Wan-Bissaka or Maguire.
United could copy Chelsea’s approach to playing Liverpool with attacking football but not man on man marking and it almost worked for Chelsea who lost narrowly in the Carabao Cup final.
Arteta relishing frantic run of April games
Mikel Arteta describes the final run in as the “most beautiful part of the season”. He said, “I just embrace the moment, go game by game and make sure we are fully prepared to perform well.” The challenge for Arteta is how he manages his team during a hectic period. After blasting away Luton the Gunners must travel to Brighton on Saturday and then next Tuesday they host Bayern Munich in the Champions League in the first leg of the quarter final. Arsenal have never won the Champions League and have not won the Premier title for 20 years. Both trophies are possible and Arteta intends to make the most of the opportunities. Following Brighton they have London derbies against Chelsea and Tottenham in April and not forgetting a match against Aston Villa. He is being careful because last season he made only 38 changes to his line-ups and that strategy caught up with them at the end where they fizzled out. This year he has made 49 changes but that is way below Man City and Liverpool who have made 77 and 79. Arsenal had a bench worth nearly £200 million on Sunday against Man City and Arteta has a nearly fully fit squad with Jurrien Timber hoping to be back later in the month.
37 goal Gyokeres coming to Premier League
Sporting Lisbon are going to sell £69million rated forward Viktor Gyokeres this summer. That has put Arsenal on alert as they search for a proven striker to strengthen their attacking options. The Swedish international has scored a remarkable 37 goals and made 14 assists this season for club and country. Chelsea have also sent coaches to watch Gyokeres and AC Milan are known to be interested however he prefers a move to the Premier League instead of Italy. His goals have put Sporting on top of the Portugese league table keeping ahead of rivals Benfica.
**As I previously reported to you, Arsenal keeper Aaron Rasmdale is not content to sit on the bench after losing his place to David Raya. Eddie Howe’s Newcastle tried to buy Ramsdale in January after Nick Pope was injured. Ramsdale was keen to join but somehow the transfer did not work out. Howe and Ramsdale know each other well from their time together at Bournemouth and the keeper could still be heading north this summer.
It has all gone wrong for Harry
Did Harry Kane do the right thing moving to Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich? It was an attempt to finally put some silverware in his empty trophy cabinet. After failing miserably to win anything at Tottenham, Harry thought he was on to a winner at Bayern who had won the German league title for the last 10 years and boasted some of the best players in Europe. But sadly no, Harry won’t be taking home a winner’s medal because Xabi Alonso’s all conquering Bayer Leverkusen have more or less completed the job with a 13 point lead.
Dortmund beat Bayern at the weekend and that sadly more or less completes the misery for Harry. What chance he will return to Premier League before he hangs up his boots?
Ipswich, Leicester and Leeds fight for Premier League place
If you have taken notice of the thrilling race at the top of the Championship table you will have seen that three teams dominate and are fighting for a place in the Premier League next season. Last season’s relegation teams Leicester and Leeds are second and third but my own team Ipswich are leading the way although Leicester do have a game in hand and there are only three points separating them. Ipswich scored a winner in the last three seconds of the game against fourth placed Southampton at the weekend and Leicester and Leeds also won three points. It will be nail biting stuff until the end of the season but I am hanging in there in the hope that Ipswich can again take a place at the top table next season. Our most famous supporter (apart from me) is Ed Sheeran who has financed the Ipswich kit this season. C’mon you Tractor Boys!
Mejbri heading back to United
Hannibal Mejbri was not included in Sevilla’s original squad at the weekend (this decision was later changed) and I am told he is likely to return to Manchester United at the end of the season. Everton showed interest in January but it was Hannibal’s decision to join Sevilla on loan. He has played less than 90 minutes in the last four games. Manager Quique Sanchez Flores said, “We have spoken to him and we believe he needs time to learn.” Hannibal has made 13 appearances for United and is on contract until next year.
Greenwood rejects Juve
Manchester United outcast Mason Greenwood has wrecked the club’s plan to swap him for Juventus defender Gleison Bremer after rejecting a move to Italy. Greenwood wants to stay in Spain where Barcelona and Atletico Madrid are following his progress. I undertand that United were willing to offer £40million rated Greenwood in part-exchange for £51million rated Bremer. At the moment United have decided to trigger a clause in Mason’s contract which will extend his United career by a further 12 months while Sir Jim Ratcliffe decides whether or not to bring him back to Old Trafford.
