Liverpool vs Man U
Venue: Anfield Stadium
Kick off: 9:05pm
One of the most decorated rivalries in the British game will be celebrated on the European stage on Thursday night (today) as Liverpool welcome Manchester United to Anfield for the first leg of their last-16 clash in the Europa League.
The fierce rivals have met 195 times in all competitions throughout their history, but have never before clashed in Europe.
Tonight will mark the first of two matches between the pair in the Europa League, with the second leg due to take place at Old Trafford next week.
It has been another largely disappointing season for Liverpool, but there is no question that performances have improved since Jurgen Klopp took charge last October.
The Reds will enter this match off the back of successive victories in the league, including a 3-0 win over Manchester City in their last home match earlier this month.
Liverpool are actually now just one spot and three points behind sixth-place Man United in the Premier League table, and Klopp’s side also have a game in hand.
Both of these teams will struggle to secure Champions League football via their domestic position, but winning the Europa League provides automatic qualification to next season’s group stages.
In terms of progression to this stage, Liverpool topped Group B ahead of Sion despite winning just two of their six matches and finding the back of the net on six occasions.
They were drawn with German side, Augsburg, in the round of 32 and recorded a 1-0 victory at Anfield to secure their spot in the last 16.
On the other hand, four straight victories between February 22 and March 2 eased the pressure on Luis Van Gaal, but a 1-0 defeat at West Bromwich Albion in the league at the weekend raised more questions.
That loss followed a run which included victories in the FA Cup, Europa League and two in the Premier League, but they will count for nothing at Anfield.
Man United’s league struggles this season have been well-documented, but arguably their biggest failure came in the Champions League.
The 20-time English champions were drawn into arguably the weakest group alongside Wolfsburg, PSV Eindhoven and CSKA Moscow, but could only win two of their six matches and ultimately finish third in the section.
That dropped the Red Devils into the Europa League and they faced humiliation after losing 2-1 at FC Midtjylland in the first leg of their last-32 clash, but a 5-1 victory in the return at Old Trafford secured their spot in the next round.
The injury-bug has hit Man United hard this season, but the emergence of a number of youngsters has been a real positive.
Man United have faced English opposition in Europe on seven occasions and have recorded five wins and lost just once.
They are actually unbeaten in the most recent six of those fixtures, including overcoming Chelsea in the 2008 Champions League final.
Liverpool possible starting lineup: Mignolet, Clyne, Lovren, Sakho, Moreno, Henderson, Can, Milner, Coutinho, Sturridge, Firmino.
Man United possible starting lineup: De Gea, Varela, Smalling, Blind, Rojo, Carrick, Schneiderlin, Memphis, Mata, Rashford, Martial.