Erik ten Hag provides fitness update on 4 key Manchester United stars ahead of Liverpool fixture

Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has claimed that Harry Maguire and Anthony Martial will miss his side's upcoming Premier League trip to Liverpool. However, he also asserted that both Luke Shaw and Marcus Rashford will be available for team selection this weekend.

During a pre-match press conference, Ten Hag was asked to shed light on a few of his stars' injury situations. He replied to reporters (h/t Manchester Evening News):

"Harry will not be available for the coming games, but we don't think it's long term. Luke Shaw trained this morning, so we think he's available for Sunday. Marcus Rashford will be back, Martial not."

Maguire, who was named the November Premier League Player of the Month, was taken off with an alleged groin injury in his club's recent 1-0 loss to Bayern Munich. Shaw was also substituted off during the UEFA Champions League Group A tie on Tuesday (December 12).

Meanwhile, both Rashford and Martial missed Manchester United's 1-0 home loss against the Thomas Tuchel-coached outfit owing to illness.

On the other hand, Manchester United are set to be without eight other players this weekend. They will be without Lisandro Martinez, Tyrell Malacia, Casemiro, Bruno Fernandes, Christian Eriksen, Mason Mount, Amad Diallo, and Jadon Sancho due to injuries and suspensions.

Dimitar Berbatov makes prediction for clash between Liverpool and Manchester United

In his column for the Metro, ex-Manchester United star Dimitar Berbatov predicted a 2-0 win for Liverpool in their league contest against the Red Devils at Anfield this Sunday (December 17). He wrote:

"[Mohamed] Salah is the main threat for Liverpool, but they have many great players. [Jurgen] Klopp is smart enough to explore the weaknesses of United in their form, and we know they will start the game like mad dogs. They'll chase, bite, and probably score."

Opining on Manchester United's goalscoring ability, Berbatov added:

"United used to score goals when the opposing team needed to score to get a result. In the last two games, they have not scored. Now they play Liverpool, who have Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Alisson [Becker] in a world-class defence. I want to say United will score, but it may be too much for them this time."

Erik ten Hag's outfit, who finished eight points ahead of the fifth-placed Reds in the Premier League last season, are seventh in the 2023-24 domestic table. They are currently on 27 points from 16 matches.

Liverpool, on the other hand, are currently atop the Premier League standings with 37 points from 16 games. They have won six times and lost just twice in their past 11 overall outings against their arch-rivals.