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5 reasons Liverpool will defeat Manchester United

By Rucker Haringey

SWANSEA, WALES - OCTOBER 01: Manager of Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp reacts during the Premier League match between Swansea City and Liverpool at The Liberty Stadium on October 1, 2016 in Swansea, Wales. (Photo by Athena Pictures/Getty Images)
SWANSEA, WALES - OCTOBER 01: Manager of Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp reacts during the Premier League match between Swansea City and Liverpool at The Liberty Stadium on October 1, 2016 in Swansea, Wales. (Photo by Athena Pictures/Getty Images) /
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HULL, ENGLAND – AUGUST 27: Daley Blind of Manchester United in action during the Premier League match between Hull City and Manchester United at KCOM Stadium on August 27, 2016 in Hull, England. (Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images)
HULL, ENGLAND – AUGUST 27: Daley Blind of Manchester United in action during the Premier League match between Hull City and Manchester United at KCOM Stadium on August 27, 2016 in Hull, England. (Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images) /

5. Blind and Smalling will struggle

You can count on Liverpool pushing hard to attack all aspects of the United back four. In particular, Klopp’s side will see a potential weakness in the channel between Daley Blind and Chris Smalling.

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Obviously, this assumes that Blind is going to start at left back in place of an injured Luke Shaw. The young Englishman has been struggling with his fitness this season, and I believe Mourinho will opt for Blind in his place.

If he does, that’ll put him next to Smalling in the United back line. Blind has a lot of excellent qualities, but excellent pace isn’t one of them. His lack of foot speed will leave Smalling badly exposed against an explosive Liverpool attack.

Smalling has been struggling to start the season regardless of who he’s playing next to. He’s only managed a Whoscored.com player rating average of 6.66 on the campaign. If he puts a foot wrong against Klopp’s attack, David de Gea may well be picking the ball up out of the back of the net.

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