Manchester United head to Anfield this afternoon to take on bitter rivals Liverpool in the Northwest Derby on Merseyside.
Yet again, the Red Devils face their great rivals as the underdogs, having sustained a period of dominance over two and a half decades which rapidly fizzled out in the Jurgen Klopp era.
Erik ten Hag’s side make the trip to Merseyside with a gravely depleted squad off the back of two consecutive defeats in the Premier League and the Champions League against Bournemouth and Bayern Munich respectively.
A plethora of injuries have been the story of United’s season as the head coach has hardly had his entire squad to select from and today will be no different when the English giants limp over the white line to face table-toppers Liverpool.
However, in an attempt to bandage a bleeding heart, ten Hag could look to make some interesting tactical changes to his side, particularly in the absence of one of his most important players.
Manchester United injury news vs Liverpool
United put in a respectable showing on Tuesday at home to the German giants but suffered two more damaging injuries. Harry Maguire was replaced in the first half at Old Trafford with what looked to be a groin strain, forcing veteran defender Jonny Evans to come on and partner Raphael Varane at the back.
Furthermore, Luke Shaw was replaced at half-time with a tight hamstring. The Telegraph’s James Ducker confirmed that the 28-year-old had been holding his left hamstring in the final few minutes building up to the referee’s whistle.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday’s colossal clash, ten Hag confirmed that the former skipper wouldn’t be fit to play this weekend but hinted that Shaw could be available.
"Harry will not be available for coming games, but don't think he is a long-term (absentee).”
"Luke Shaw trained this morning, so we think he's available for Sunday.”
With Maguire sidelined, ten Hag will have up to 11 players unavailable for this huge upcoming game, including club captain Bruno Fernandes.
Bruno Fernandes’ stats this season
Fernandes has had a perceived history of petulancy since moving to Old Trafford back in 2020. The playmaker’s on-field antics can come across as slightly reactive when things aren’t going his way during games, with football pundit Micah Richards even describing his actions as “pathetic” at times.
The Portuguese magnifico certainly did not help himself last Saturday as Manchester United were hammered 3-0 at home against Bournemouth at the Theatre of Dreams. With merely six minutes remaining of the ninety, Bruno nonsensically kicked Adam Smith to the floor, leaving referee Michael Salisbury no choice but to take his name in the book.
Unfortunately for ten Hag and Man United, the yellow card meant that Fernandes will be suspended ahead of the trip to Anfield, having picked up too many bookings this season, meaning he won’t feature for the 20-time English champions at the same ground where club legend Gary Neville called him “disgraceful” last season.
Despite Fernandes’ struggles this season, the skipper has still been one of Manchester United’s better players throughout the disturbing campaign and has recorded more goal contributions this term than any other player at the club.
Player
Appearances
Goals
Assists
Scott McTominay
18
6
1
Bruno Fernandes
23
5
5
Rasmus Hojlund
20
5
0
Casemiro
12
4
1
Alejandro Garnacho
22
3
1
Marcus Rashford
20
2
3
Anthony Martial
19
2
1
Stats via BBC
Furthermore, Bruno has yet to be victorious at Anfield in his career thus far against the side who were once linked with signing him before he eventually chose Old Trafford. The midfielder would have been champing at the bit to pick up his first career win in the historic stadium, righting last season’s wrong.
Nonetheless, ten Hag will have to make do without his captain, meaning a rejigging of the midfield may be in order. This could leave the Dutchman with an obvious decision regarding who to play in Fernandes’ place.
Scott McTominay’s stats this season
Surprisingly, in mid-December, Scott McTominay is Manchester United’s top goalscorer with six goals, having bagged two braces – against Brentford earlier in the campaign and another last week at home to strugglers Chelsea.
Having once been called "special" by former manager Jose Mourinho, the Scotland international's spell with the Red Devils looked to be coming to an end. However, the £60k-per-week star has had quite the redemption arc at Old Trafford, from being a player ten Hag was looking to sell to now being the team’s most prolific player.
However, McTominay’s best displays have come off the right of a midfield three. Instead of asking the 27-year-old ace to drop deep and link play, as he had done under ten Hag’s predecessors, McTominay is tasked with crashing the box and taking up decent goalscoring positions to help alleviate the side’s attacking woes.
McTominay does this role really well and has even been described as “just like [Marouane] Fellaini” by BBC Radio Manchester’s Gaz Drinkwater. In fact, the academy product is just one goal away from matching Fellaini’s best-ever tally for United of seven goals which came during the 2014/15 campaign.
The Scot could be tasked with filling Bruno’s boots with the captain suspended, which could offer United more stability in games, particularly in transition. As a result of McTominay and Fernandes positioning themselves so high during games, the team can be caught on the break very easily, with the defensive midfielder being left to cover an ungodly amount of space.
With McTominay as the ‘ten’ behind the striker and a more balanced midfield of Kobbie Mainoo and Sofyan Amrabat sitting as a double-pivot, protecting the backline, United could be a little more secure in transition. Plus, McTominay's attacking stats this season are quite impressive compared to all other midfielders in Europe's top five leagues.
It would be a new role for the towering ace as he has only played one game as an attacking midfielder in his career, but it is one that could suit his qualities.
Stat
Percentile Ranking
Non-Penalty Goals
98
Non-Penalty xG
99
Shots
94
Touches In Attacking Penalty Box
88
Progressive Carries
65
Stats via FBref
McTominay may not be as creative as Bruno Fernandes would but can certainly be more of a goal threat, while the two midfielders behind him can sit deeper and ensure that United aren't caught by Liverpool's deadly transitions.
His statistics show that the Scottish dynamo has the positioning and timing of his runs to provide a fantastic threat at the top end of the pitch, which is why playing in a new role as a number ten could be perfect for him, whilst it would also allow United to balance their midfield with other options behind him.