Liverpool have enjoyed some thumping victories over Manchester United in recent years under Jurgen Klopp, both home and away, and so the clubs' meeting at Anfield back in December looked a forgone conclusion… right?
Despite playing some scintillating attacking football, firing on all cylinders, Erik ten Hag's struggling side managed to leave Merseyside with a point and a clean sheet, and it's for this reason that the Reds must be wary in the FA Cup quarter-finals this afternoon.
United are not playing well and have lost two of their past three Premier League matches, but this fixture does something indefinable to form and expectation.
Injury-hit Liverpool must be ready for war and will have to do so with a large list of continuing absences.
Liverpool team news
Klopp has begrudgingly admitted that Ibrahima Konate "will probably lose" the race for fitness today, having missed Liverpool's past two matches with a muscle problem.
Teenage midfielder Bobby Clark, who scored and assisted in midweek, may also fail to make the squad after feeling some discomfort, though fears of anything serious have been quelled.
Moreover, Ryan Gravenberch has been given the green light after spending the past few weeks on the sidelines in a major boost for Liverpool's depth in the centre of the park, though he is unlikely to start.
Alisson Becker, Curtis Jones, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Diogo Jota, Stefan Bajcetic, Thiago Alcantara and Joel Matip are all still injured, though the return of Mohamed Salah to the starting line-up against Sparta Prague several days back is a massive boost ahead of the trip to the Theatre of Dreams.
Mohamed Salah's game vs Sparta Prague in numbers
Salah has been in typically indomitable attacking form this season, with the 31-year-old scoring 20 goals and supplying 13 assists across 31 matches in all competitions, starting just 24 times.
As per FBref, the Egyptian ranks among the top 2% of attacking midfielders and wingers across Europe's top five leagues over the past year for goals scored and touches in the attacking penalty area, the top 1% for assists and the top 20% for progressive passes per 90, highlighting his elite threat in the final third.
Against Liverpool's Czech opposition in the Europa League, Salah was handed his first starting berth since New Year's Day and landed right at the crest of the wave he had been riding beforehand, bagging a goal and adding three assists.
Minutes played
90'
Goals
1
Assists
3
Touches
77
Accurate passes
53/63 (84%)
Key passes
6
Possession lost
17x
Dribble attempts
0/2
Duels won
0/3
The £350k-per-week star did, however, fail with both of his attempted dribbles and lost out in each of his contested duels, with his showing prolific but lacking some of the core elements usually present in his performance.
While Salah is Liverpool's best forward, he won't be the only player to leave the host defenders quaking ahead of the FA Cup tie, with Luis Diaz currently in sublime form for Klopp's side.
Luis Diaz's season so far
Diaz spent the majority of the 2022/23 campaign sidelined but returned in the late stage, looking understandably rusty and failing to fully click into gear.
The early phase of the 2023/24 campaign yielded much of the same results; despite scoring in both of Liverpool's opening matches of the Premier League season, the Colombian couldn't hit the heights following his £37m signing from Porto back in January 2022, posting four goals and three assists from 11 league starts.
2023
24
16
5
2
2024
15
14
6
3
Since the turn of the calendar year, Liverpool have seen the menacing presence that they paid the big bucks for with greater constancy, with The Athletic's James Pearce even noting that he had been "Liverpool's biggest attacking threat" during a spell where Jota, Salah and Darwin Nunez all languished in the medical room.
True, he's wasteful in front of goal but Lucho brings so much to the table and he might just be Klopp's most important weapon at Old Trafford this afternoon.
Why Luis Diaz will be key vs Manchester United
Described as a "livewire" by journalist Peter Hall, Diaz will bring the energy and spirit needed against a Manchester United defence that looks like it's going to recall the tough-tackling Aaron Wan-Bissaka to the starting line-up after the right-back recovered from injury.
Against Manchester City, the £55k-per-week whiz succeeded with four of his five attempted dribbles, bringing a fleet-footed flair to the team that will leave the United defenders scrambling.
As per FBref, the 27-year-old currently ranks among the top 16% of attacking midfielders and wingers across Europe's top five leagues over the past year for goals and the top 19% for shot-creating actions per 90, but possibly more importantly, he ranks among the top 5% for pass completion.
Diaz's dribbling ability, the snap and electricity to his movements down the left channel, attract wowed onlookers and bring out moments such as the one last weekend, against Manchester City, when the inexhaustible winger beat both Kyle Walker and Rodri to drag the ball into the danger area.
His crispness and unrelenting output down the wing will be vital in subduing and tiring out a United side that will be raring for a chance to upset the Liverpool conquest for greatness.
Since the start of 2024, only Virgil van Dijk (1254 minutes) has played more football than Diaz (1226 minutes), and given the difference in role and distance covered between the respective players, this is most impressive from Liverpool's flanking maverick.
The focus will be on nullifying Salah, and rightly so, but Diaz knows a trick or two and he might just be the main man to propel Liverpool into the final four of the FA Cup.
