Manchester United vs Liverpool Prediction: Both teams to test new blood

Manchester United take on Liverpool at the Williams-Brice Stadium in the Club Friendlies—a match for both teams to test new blood. Who will come out victorious at the end of 90 minutes?

Manchester United continued their preseason win-one, lose-one trend with a pulsating encounter against Real Betis at the Snapdragon Stadium in California after a narrow defeat at Arsenal. There were goals galore for the San Diego crowd to get excited about in the first 35 minutes: Iker Losada, Marcus Rashford, Amad Diallo, and Casemiro. But after Diego Llorente cut arrears, the Red Devils survived a tense last half hour to secure their second friendly win of the summer.

However, the win in San Diego did little to ease Manchester United's frustrations at being laid waste by pre-season injuries. New signing Leny Yoro will miss three months with a foot injury he sustained against Arsenal. Rashford, Antony, and Rasmus Hojlund are also out, meaning that United is making the buildup for the Community Shield against Manchester City increasingly complicated.

While the medical staff work overtime, Erik ten Hag can still take some pride in his team's performance in the USA. The same goes for his upcoming opponent, former Eredivisie rival Arne Slot.

Onana; Wan-Bissaka, Evans, Lindelof, Amass; Casemiro, Eriksen; Diallo, Mount, Mejbri; McTominay

Ahead of a reunion with his compatriot, the Liverpool head coach orchestrated a 2-1 win over Arsenal in sweltering Philadelphia on Wednesday evening. Star of the show was 21-year-old Harvey Elliott, who impressively pulled the strings in the number 10 role.

First, he provided Mohamed Salah with a good assist, before delicately chipping over the Arsenal defense to find Fabio Carvalho. The response, through Kai Havertz for Arsenal, had a ring of a consolation goal about it.

Though Liverpool's attack faded after the break, Arsenal enjoyed most of the possession without being able to fashion a single meaningful shot on goal in return. Slot's solid defensive structure handed Liverpool a second successive pre-season win.

They also earned a one-goal win over Real Betis as part of their transatlantic journey. The Reds have another friendly lined up against Sevilla on August 11 at Anfield following their USA tour. Another friendly against Las Palmas is also in the pipeline as they try to get as much playing time for senior players as possible.

What will be important for Liverpool is correcting the failings of last season, when they failed to win any of their three matches with Manchester United in 2023-24. The fact that Slot and Ten Hag have two wins apiece over the other from their respective spells at AZ Alkmaar and Ajax is an interesting fact.

Kelleher; Bradley, Konate, Van den Berg, Tsimikas; Elliott, Endo, Gravenberch; Salah, Jota, Carvalho

Liverpool may count themselves a little fortunate to have emerged from Tuesday's clash with Arsenal, who created little in the final third. Slot, though, is starting to stamp his authority on this team, and the selection sits in much better condition than their injured hosts.

Both teams will suffer with fatigue and extreme heat here, so another draw - something of a speciality when these two meet - wouldn't come as a shock.