Pundit Alan Shearer named a combined XI of Liverpool and Manchester United, leaving out Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz.
Sunday’s match between Liverpool and Manchester United at Anfield will be of great significance for both teams.
Before the international break, Liverpool were fortunate to get off to a winning start this season and not drop any points, but suffered three consecutive defeats to Crystal Palace, Galatasaray and Chelsea, which put them in a bit of a crisis.
Arne Slott’s side have been far from their best this season, lacking balance after a £400m refurbishment in the summer and relying on late goals and individual moments of quality to get them over the line.
Liverpool have fallen from the top of the Premier League table due to a decline in form, but are still eight places above Man United in the table.
Read: Liverpool vs Manchester United: Amorim’s team could expose champions’ flaws
Manchester United have lost three of their opening seven Premier League games and were eliminated in the Carabao Cup by League Two side Grimsby Town, making head coach Ruben Amorim one of the leading candidates to be sacked from the Premier League.
Ahead of Sunday’s match, Shearer selected his best eleven, combining Liverpool and Manchester United players, in an interview with Betfair (quoted by the Daily Mail).
There is some bitterness over his selection, with former Newcastle United star Isaac left out, as well as Wirtz and Bruno Fernandes.
Luke Shaw, replacing Fernandes, was the only Man United star Shearer included in his squad, with Shearer also favoring Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Conor Bradley and Alisson Becker in his back five.
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Furthermore, up front, Director Shearer appointed Ryan Gravenbirch, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominic Szoboszlai in midfield, and Mohamed Salah, Hugo Ekitike and Kodi Gakpo as forwards.
As for the match itself, Shearer explained why he thinks Man United will “take their hands off if they score”.
“Liverpool vs Man United is always a big match because of the size of both clubs and former players always say it’s a huge game and a game they’re watching closely. It means a lot to both the fans and the players,” Shearer told Betfair.
“There’s definitely some extra spice to this game, given that Liverpool lost three on a spin that no one expected and Man United are where they are. It’s a game that both teams need to win for different reasons.”
“It’s always difficult to have a holiday abroad. As a manager and as a club you would want to sit down and work and go to the training ground and work on what went wrong, but that’s difficult when you have so many international players away.
“It must have been a tough two weeks for Slott and Amorim.”
Shearer added: “Manchester United would let you go if they wanted to score, there’s no question about that.
“But it’s easier said than done because, as we said, the ambient noise for this game will be great and there will be a great atmosphere at Anfield, which is always there.”
