Manchester United vs Liverpool: 5-point preview

#3 Will Mourinho go on the offensive?

Mourinho has been accused of being too defensive against the big teams

When the two sides met at Anfield this season, Mourinho set up his side to defend and play on the counter. Liverpool largely dominated the match and United managed only one shot on target from the entire game.

The Red Devils have the second-best home record in the league and have only lost to leaders Manchester City. Against the big teams at Old Trafford, they lost against City, and won against Tottenham and Chelsea.

However, in all of those big games, they have played by surrendering possession to the opposition, trying to catch them on the counter. The only exception when this did not happen was in the second half of the Chelsea game where they were forced to attack, having gone behind.

With United having a two-point advantage over Liverpool, they would be happy with a draw. Liverpool almost always take the attack to the opposition and it is expected that Mourinho will set up to play on the counter yet again.

However, they do have a tougher fixture list than Liverpool after this match, where they are likely to drop points. Hence it might be a wiser idea to attack Liverpool, especially given how vulnerable the latter's defence has been this season. Will Mourinho spring a surprise? Let's wait and watch.