Liverpool vs Man Utd preview; kickoff and team news, how to follow, stream

Who: Liverpool vs Manchester United
What: English Premier League
Where: Anfield, Liverpool, United Kingdom
When: 4:30pm (16:30 GMT) on Sunday
Follow Al Jazeera’s live text and photo build-up and commentary stream.

Liverpool boss Arne Slot believes struggling Manchester United are better than their place in the Premier League standings suggests, and said he does not plan to rest any players when the two teams clash at Anfield.

Liverpool still sweating on Alexander-Arnold, Salah and van Dijk futures

With regards to his own players, Slot insisted that defender Trent Alexander-Arnold is focused on his job despite speculation linking the defender, who is out of contract in the summer, with a move to Real Madrid.

Liverpool’s talisman Mohamed Salah is also out of contract, along with club captain Virgil van Dijk, and has said a new deal is “far away”. The Egyptian leads the league with 17 goals and combined with his 13 assists, his goal contributions add up to one every 53 minutes.

Asked if Salah is currently the best in the world, Slot said it is difficult to compare players.

“If I only look at my own team, Virgil (van Dijk) also has an outstanding season but he doesn’t have the numbers because he is a defender,” the manager said. “The numbers Mo has speak for themselves. If you simply look at the numbers and the way he’s playing, he’s definitely a great, great player.”

Slot’s men, who have lost only one game this season, beat Manchester United 3-0 at Old Trafford in September and United have just one victory over their rivals in their last 13 league meetings.

Slot had kind words for Amorim, who admitted after their 2-0 loss to Newcastle United on Monday that his team could be facing potential relegation.

“Every manager sympathises with every other manager,” Slot said. “We all know how much pressure this job brings. It is something we like. He’s done so well at Sporting and I think he has a good squad of players so he will eventually bring the best out of them.”

Manchester United need “leaders” on the field to reverse recent run

Amorim, meantime, says Manchester United are “starving for leaders” during a turbulent period.

United will be able to welcome back skipper Bruno Fernandes at Anfield, after he was suspended for Monday’s dismal 2-0 defeat to Newcastle, while the club has triggered an option to extend former captain Harry Maguire’s contract by a year until 2026.

Defender Maguire, 31, joined the club from Leicester in 2019 and his deal was set to expire at the end of the season.

“I spoke with him (Maguire) this morning and I told him he has to improve on the pitch, we need him a lot,” Amorim said on Friday.

“Also, he has to improve as a leader. We all know the situation that he had here (losing the captaincy and falling down the pecking order) but we need him a lot in this moment, so we are going to trigger, happily, the option for him.”

Amorim added: “When you look at our team we are starving for leaders on the pitch. He is a leader.”