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Man United vs. Liverpool: Dutch Coaches Face Off in Premier League Clash

1 September, 2024 - 4:12PM
Man United vs. Liverpool: Dutch Coaches Face Off in Premier League Clash
Credit: eurosport.com

One of football's biggest rivalries resumes on Sunday, this time with a new face in one of the dugouts  as Manchester United take on Liverpool at Old Trafford. 

Today's game offers new Liverpool boss Arne Slot his first real taste of facing his side's north west foes, as the Merseysiders look to maintain their perfect start to the new season. 

Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has pitted his wits against his fellow countryman on five previous occasions in competitive games, with Slot claiming the advantage between the two Dutch coaches with three wins to ten Hag's two. Four of those encounters came in the Dutch Eredivisie, however Slot's Liverpool beat Man Utd 3-0 in pre-season ahead of the 2024/25 campaign.

Manchester United host Liverpool on Sunday, Sept. 1, at Old Trafford, with kickoff set for 4 p.m. BST local time, making it a 11 a.m. ET or 8 a.m. PT start in the US and Canada and at 1 a.m. AEST kickoff in Australia in the early hours of Monday morning.

Below, we'll outline the best live TV streaming services to use to watch the game as it happens, wherever you are in the world.

Two Dutch Coaches Go Head-to-Head

Erik ten Hag and Arne Slot face off for the first time in the Premier League on Sunday,

How to Watch the Match

Sunday's Manchester United vs. Liverpool match will be shown on NBC and is streaming on Peacock. You'll need a Peacock Premium or Premium Plus account to catch the game live. 

Peacock offers two Premium plans, and after the recent price increases, the ad-supported Premium plan costs $8 a month, and the ad-free Premium Plus plan is $14 a month.

If you find yourself unable to view EPL matches locally, you may need a different way to watch the games -- that's where using a VPN can come in handy. A VPN is also the best way to stop your ISP from throttling your speeds on game day by encrypting your traffic, and it's also a great idea if you're traveling and find yourself connected to a Wi-Fi network, and you want to add an extra layer of privacy for your devices and logins. 

With a VPN, you're able to virtually change your location on your phone, tablet or laptop to get access to the game. Most VPNs, like our Editors' Choice, ExpressVPN, make it really easy to do this. 

Using a VPN to watch or stream sports is legal in any country where VPNs are legal, including the US, UK and Canada, as long as you have a legitimate subscription to the service you're streaming. You should be sure your VPN is set up correctly to prevent leaks: Even where VPNs are legal, the streaming service may terminate the account of anyone it deems to be circumventing correctly applied blackout restrictions. 

ExpressVPN is our current best VPN pick for people who want a reliable and safe VPN, and it works on a variety of devices. It's normally $13 a month, but if you sign up for an annual subscription for $100 you'll get three months free and save 49%. That's the equivalent of $6.67 a month with code SPECIALDEAL, which should be automatically applied.

Note that ExpressVPN offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.

UK viewers

This late afternoon match is exclusive to Sky Sports, showing on its Sky Sports Main Event, Premier League and UHD channels. If you already have Sky Sports as part of your TV package, you can stream the game via its Sky Go app, but cord-cutters will want to get set up with a Now account and a Now Sports membership to stream the game. 

Sky subsidiary Now offers streaming access to Sky Sports channels with a Now Sports membership. You can get a day of access for £15, or sign up to a monthly plan from £35 per month right now.

Canadian viewers

If you want to stream this EPL game live in Canada, you'll need to subscribe to Fubo Canada. The service has exclusive rights to every Premier League fixture once again this season.

Fubo is the go-to destination for Canadians looking to watch the EPL this season, with exclusive streaming rights to every match. It costs CA$30 per month, though you can save some cash by paying quarterly or annually.

Australian viewers

Football fans Down Under can watch EPL matches live on streaming service Optus Sport, which is showing every single Premier League fixture of the 2024/25 season live in Australia.

With exclusive rights to screen all EPL matches live this season, as well as German Bundesliga and Spanish La Liga games, streaming service Optus Sport is a particularly big draw for Aussie soccer fans.

If you're already an Optus network customer, you can bag Optus Sport for a reduced price, with discounts bringing the price down to as low as AU$7 per month. If you're not, a standalone monthly subscription to the service starts at AU$25.

Beyond the Pitch

Today’s game will be just like many a meeting between the two sides and, in one way, quite different. It appears to be the first big-six meeting ever involving a Dutch manager on either side. You wait decades for a big English clash between two Dutch managers and then find that actually there are four of them, as Erik ten Hag now has two more as his right-hand men – Ruud van Nistelrooy, who has managed PSV Eindhoven, and Rene Hake, who, like Ten Hag, has managed Go Ahead Eagles.

When they shake hands, Ten Hag and Arne Slot will look interchangeable with their shaven heads and friendly faces, but as Premier League managers they are already chalk and Dutch cheese. Slot has instantly established himself as a reluctant shopper and a considered strategist with a clear style. Without exactly renouncing Klopp-ball, he has added a twist of patience and gained more control.

The upshot, in his first two Premier League games, has been a pair of 2-0 wins. That’s as many as United managed in the whole of last season. It’s not just the results that bother United fans: as Ten Hag hangs on for a third autumn in Manchester, it’s still hard to say what his style is.

While Liverpool invested in just one player over the summer (Federico Chiesa, for £10m, a third of his market value according to Transfermarkt), Ten Hag and his new colleagues bought five for about 18 times that. The latest recruit is Manuel Ugarte – yes, Man U have brought in a man called Man U – but he wasn’t registered in time to play today. The only attacker among the five, Joshua Zirkzee, may get a first start as Mason Mount is injured again and Scott McTominay, to the disappointment of many supporters, is no longer there.

No Dutch manager has ever won the Premier League, or even come second. For all his success in the domestic cups, it’s hard to picture Ten Hag changing that. Slot has a more realistic chance, though he may have to wait until Pep Guardiola gets bored of giving us his thoughts on hat-tricks from Erling Haaland.

United overperformed against Liverpool last season, somehow contriving to win once and draw twice while going out of their way to concede as many shots as possible. Today feels as if it might just be payback time. But it’s a derby, so anything could happen, or nothing.

Lineups

Man United (possible 4-2-4-0) Onana; Mazraoui, De Ligt, Martinez, Dalot; Casemiro, Mainoo; Garnacho, Fernandes, Zirkzee, Rashford.

Subs: Bayindir, Heaton, Maguire, Evans, Collyer, Eriksen, Amad, Antony, Wheatley.

Liverpool (probable 4-2-1-3) Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Gravenberch, Mac Allister; Szoboszlai; Salah, Jota, Diaz.

Subs: Kelleher, Bradley, Quansah, Gomez, Tsimikas, Endo, Elliott, Nunez, Gakpo.

Referee Anthony Taylor.

Pre-match Thoughts

After a serene August, Arne Slot sticks with a winning team in September. Even the bench is the same as it was against Brentford – no sign of Federico Chiesa yet.

As expected, Erik ten Hag bring Joshua Zirkzee in to replace Mason Mount. As not so expected, he replaces Harry Maguire with Matthijs de Ligt. When he did that last weekend with a substitution, United were suddenly disorganised. And there’s a third change as Alejandro Garnacho comes in on the right wing for Amad, who ejected Liverpool from the FA Cup with his last-gasp winner.

The Key Match-Ups

The key match-up will be between Liverpool's attacking trio of Mohamed Salah, Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz and United's backline. Liverpool's attack has been firing on all cylinders so far this season, while United's defense has been shaky at best. If Salah, Jota and Diaz can get going, they could cause a lot of problems for United.

A Look Back

United’s bench is a curious one, with two goalkeepers and no full-backs. The only sub of theirs with the air of a game-changer is Amad, whereas Liverpool have some serious firepower in Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo.

The Verdict

Liverpool are the favorites going into this match, but it will be a tough game. United have a lot of new players and they will be looking to prove themselves. However, Liverpool are a very experienced side and they will be looking to build on their perfect start to the season. We predict a 2-1 win for Liverpool.

Final Thoughts

This game is a must-watch for any football fan. It is a clash of two of the biggest clubs in the world, and it is sure to be a tense and exciting encounter. With new managers and new players, this match is set to be a fascinating encounter.

Tags:
Manchester United F.C. Liverpool F.C. Premier League Erik ten Hag Manchester United Liverpool Premier League Erik ten Hag Arne Slot
Samantha Wilson
Samantha Wilson

Sports Analyst

Analyzing sports events and strategies for success.