Cristiano Ronaldo is again set to lead the Manchester United line in Tuesday's Premier League clash with title hopefuls Liverpool.
The Portugal international scored his 60th career hat-trick on Saturday afternoon, as the Red Devils recorded a 3-2 win over relegation-threatened Norwich City at Old Trafford to reignite their top-four hopes.
There remains speculation surrounding the attacker's future and indeed his suitability for the team, with Erik ten Hag preparing to take charge of the club at the end of the season.
However, the 37-year-old has now netted 21 times and registered three assists in 34 appearances for Man United during the 2021-22 campaign, including 15 goals and three assists in 26 Premier League outings.
Ralf Rangnick's side are currently fifth in the table, three points behind fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur on the same number of games (32), with Spurs and Arsenal both losing on Saturday, and fellow top-four challengers West Ham United being held at home by Burnley on Sunday.
Man United will now be bidding to secure a huge three points against Liverpool, who are only one point behind league leaders Manchester City in what is a fascinating title race.
Here, Sports Mole looks at how Ronaldo has fared against the Reds in the past.
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Ronaldo has faced Liverpool on 13 occasions during his professional career and has a relatively impressive record against the Reds, having won eight times, drawn once and suffered four losses.
All three of the Portuguese's Champions League appearances against the Merseyside club came during his time at Real Madrid, and he was on the winning side on each occasion, netting against them in the group stage of the 2014-15 competition before helping Los Blancos win the 2018 final, playing the full 90 minutes of the 3-1 success.
Ronaldo has faced Liverpool nine times in the Premier League, meanwhile, and has a record of five wins, one draw and three defeats, scoring twice and providing two assists.
The former Sporting Lisbon youngster played the full 90 minutes of his team's 5-0 loss to Jurgen Klopp's side at Old Trafford earlier this season, and he has now been beaten on his last two league appearances against the Reds, also suffering a 4-1 reverse during his final season at Old Trafford in his first spell.
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Ronaldo also has one FA Cup appearance against Liverpool to his name throughout his career, suffering a 1-0 defeat to the Merseyside club in the fifth round of the 2005-06 competition.
The Portuguese has scored three times and registered two assists in his 13 appearances against Liverpool in all competitions, but a record of just two goals in nine Premier League matches is hardly clinical, and he found it difficult in the reverse match at Old Trafford last year.
The attacker actually failed to score in his first six league outings with the Merseyside outfit before finding the back of the net in a 3-0 Man United win at Old Trafford during the 2007-08 campaign.
As mentioned, the forward has lost his last two Premier League games against Liverpool, with Man United conceding nine times and scoring just once in the process, but he knows what it takes to win at Anfield, enjoying victories at the famous stadium on four occasions throughout his professional career, three of which came during his first spell at Man United.
This is not the team that dominated English football, though, and the 20-time English champions will need to show huge improvement from their recent matches in order to claim a positive result on Tuesday.
Matt Law
