Manchester United vs Liverpool: Three key battles that will decide the match

Jose Mourinho and Jürgen Klopp's sides do battle for second place at Old Trafford

Alexis Sanchez vs Trent Alexander-Arnold

Trent Alexander-Arnold returns to Old Trafford on Saturday for the first time since making his full Premier League debut in this fixture last season.

The teenager has barely looked back since and, having started in Liverpool’s last four league outings, the right back berth in Jürgen Klopp’s side looks like his to lose.

Alexander-Arnold’s rise through the ranks at Anfield bears testament to his talent, but even the most generous of those who have witnessed his progression over the course of the past year would admit that at 19-years-old, his inexperience sometimes shows.

His opponent is likely to be Alexis Sanchez, a player who would be the first to admit that he is out-of-sorts but one of supreme pedigree, eager to prove his worth to his new team-mates.

If Alexander-Arnold can shackle him, Sanchez’s difficult start to life at Old Trafford will drag on. If not, this could be Sanchez’s first great performance in a Manchester United shirt.

Nemanja Matic vs Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain / James Milner

Nemanja Matic looked a snip at £40m in opening weeks of the season. Back then, it seemed remiss of Chelsea to let him leave so soon after he had played an integral part in their title-winning side.

By contrast, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain had to wait to make any real impact at Anfield. Some, like Thierry Henry, suggested that Arsenal had the better end of the £35m deal that took him to Anfield.

Some six months later, things have changed slightly. Matic’s stunning late winner at Selhurst Park on Monday night will be long remembered, but he spent much of the winter out of form, struggling against more dynamic opponents in midfield.

Oxlade-Chamberlain, meanwhile, is putting in increasingly impressive performances as a No 8 under Klopp and showing signs of realising the potential that was thought lost at Arsenal.

It may not be enough to ensure him of a start at Old Trafford – James Milner has been in excellent form of late – but whichever of those two play alongside Jordan Henderson and Emre Can, their running from midfield will test Matic, who must win the battle for the middle of the park.

David de Gea vs Mohamed Salah

While there will be a number of interesting individual battles across the pitch, no match-up will have a greater bearing on the result than that between each club’s most important player.

The result itself is likely to depend on what happens when Mohamed Salah is through one-on-one on David de Gea’s goal – and yes, it is probably a case of ‘when’, rather than ‘if’.

One of the biggest questions surrounding United’s season is where exactly they would find themselves without De Gea, who time and time again has bailed out an ordinary defence with a raft of extraordinary saves.

Liverpool would be worse off without Salah’s goals too of course, but the Egyptian’s remarkable scoring haul this season is arguably more a product of Klopp’s system than individual brilliance.

In any case, De Gea on top form – as he so often is against Liverpool – could single-handedly keep Europe’s most fearsome frontlines at bay. Equally, if he has a rare indifferent day at the office, as he did in the recent victory over Chelsea, Salah is likely to capitalise.