In their final engagement of the pre-season period, Manchester United prepare for another clash of the Premier League titans on Saturday, squaring off against Liverpool in South Carolina.
Both English giants came up trumps in their most recent friendly battles, as Arne Slot's men edged out Arsenal, while the Red Devils triumphed in a five-goal extravaganza with Real Betis.
Match preview
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Following a consistent loss-win pattern in pre-season thus far, Man United responded to their narrow Arsenal defeat when Real Betis arrived at the Snapdragon Stadium in California, where the San Diego crowd was treated to a pulsating opening 35 minutes.
All of Iker Losada, Marcus Rashford, Amad Diallo and Casemiro were on target in a first half where defending was not on the agenda of either team, but even though Diego Llorente set up a nerve-jangling last half-hour, the Red Devils shut up shop for their second friendly success of the summer.
However, the friendly spoils in San Diego came as little consolation for Man United amid their cruel wave of pre-season injuries, having learned that new signing Leny Yoro is expected to spend three months in the infirmary with the foot problem he picked up in the Arsenal defeat.
Rashford, Antony and Rasmus Hojlund are also keeping the ex-Lille defender company in the infirmary as the injury demons bedevil Man United, whose preparations for next weekend's Community Shield against Manchester City have been thrown into partial disarray.
While the medical team are now working overtime, Erik ten Hag should still be able to reflect on his side's time in the USA with relative pride, and the same can be said of his upcoming foe and erstwhile Eredivisie counterpart Arne Slot.
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Warming up for a reunion with his compatriot in perfect style, the Liverpool head coach masterminded a 2-1 beating of Arsenal in the Philadelphia heat on Wednesday evening, where 21-year-old Harvey Elliott ran the show in the number 10 slot.
The former Fulham protege laid on a pair of slick assists, firstly playing Mohamed Salah through before picking out Fabio Carvalho with a delicate dink over the top of the Arsenal backline, and a Kai Havertz response would merely be scant consolation for Arsenal.
Liverpool offered little in an attacking sense in the second 45, but Arsenal's period of possession dominance did not translate into a barrage of shots on the Liverpool goal, as Slot's sturdy structure won out to propel the Reds to pre-season win number two.
Also boasting their own one-goal success over Real Betis from their transatlantic trip, Liverpool only have one more exhibition game in the diary once their USA tour is said and done - the visit of Sevilla to Anfield on August 11 - although talks are ongoing to schedule another fixture with Las Palmas amid concerns over a lack of friendly minutes for some senior players.
Righting last season's wrongs is currently priority number one for Liverpool, though, as they failed to win any of their three battles with Man United in 2023-24, while Slot and Ten Hag both boast two wins over the other from their time in the AZ Alkmaar and Ajax dugouts respectively.
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Team News
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As mentioned, the Man United infirmary is already filling up even before the start of the new Premier League season; Yoro's metatarsal fracture could keep him out until November, while Hojlund is facing six weeks of rehabilitation from the hamstring issue he sustained against Arsenal.
Attacking duo Rashford and Antony also left the field worse for wear against Betis on Wednesday - the latter was brought on as a second-half substitute for Diallo but only completed 24 minutes before succumbing to an issue.
Rashford and Antony's problems spells good news for Hannibal Mejbri and Mason Mount's chances of forcing their way into the XI for Saturday's contest, while Andre Onana and Jonny Evans are prime candidates to freshen up the defence too.
In stark contrast, Slot happily reported that none of his Liverpool troops picked up any problems in their success over Arsenal, where Ibrahima Konate and Ryan Gravenberch were both present on the bench following their Euro 2024 exploits.
The Reds boss has confirmed that the French defender and Dutch midfielder should both earn their first minutes of pre-season barring any late concerns, while Diogo Jota also completed 45 minutes of the triumph over the Gunners.
Curtis Jones was fit enough for a first-half cameo in the midweek encounter too, but left-back Andrew Robertson is still in the care of the medical team and will play no part against the Red Devils.
Manchester United possible starting lineup:
Onana; Wan-Bissaka, Evans, Lindelof, Amass; Casemiro, Eriksen; Diallo, Mount, Mejbri; McTominay
Liverpool possible starting lineup:
Kelleher; Bradley, Konate, Van den Berg, Tsimikas; Elliott, Endo, Gravenberch; Salah, Jota, Carvalho
We say: Manchester United 1-1 Liverpool
Liverpool could perhaps count themselves a tad fortunate to sink Arsenal in midweek as the Gunners were found wanting in the attacking third, but Slot already appears to be stamping his blueprint on the squad, who are in much better shape than their injury-hit foes.
Fatigue and the extreme heat should hamper both sets of players, though, so we would not be at all surprised to see another stalemate played out between the long-time adversaries.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ben Knapton
