Manchester United have largely got the better of
Liverpool at Old Trafford in the
Premier League era, though there have been times the Red Devils have let their control slip. Since the inception of the Premier League in 1992, the Merseysiders have made 37 short trips along the M62 in all competitions. United have taken the bragging rights in the majority of those clashes - 22 to be exact - whilst drawing eight and losing only seven. The latest of those victories was of course March's FA Cup success, something that spurs belief of upsetting the league title chasers. A late equaliser took that quarter-final tie to extra-time before Amad's stoppage-time strike completed an outstanding 4-3 victory. READ MORE:
Manchester United fans have made their feelings clear on Mason Greenwood - Sir Jim Ratcliffe must listen READ MORE: Ian Wright makes bold Manchester United prediction with latest Liverpool warning Liverpool will have designs on ensuring a similar series of events does not play out given the readiness of their fellow title-chasers to capitalise on many mistakes that are made along the way. As motivation they have the past decade to look back upon, which has been one of mixed fortunes in this fixture. For a start, Jurgen Klopp has subjected Old Trafford to painful 5-0 and 4-2 defeats in recent memory. The German can readily draw on those examples, though he was certainly not the first to rock United. Exactly 10 years ago, Liverpool arrived in a similar three-horse title race, on that occasion with City and
Chelsea . United were well out of the equation at that stage, in turmoil during the first season post-Sir Alex Ferguson , and had a 3-0 defeat inflicted upon them by Steven Gerrard and Luis Suarez. It left them seventh in the table and 18 points adrift - a gap that would extend to 22 come the season's climax. But it was the post-match reaction of his teammates that Wayne Rooney recalls most vividly. As a five-time Premier League,
Champions League ,
FIFA Club
World Cup and two-time League Cup winner under Ferguson, such a feeling was occasional for the former
England captain. "Firstly, we were losing the core of the team really,” he recently told The Overlap’s Stick to
Football podcast, brought to you by SkyBet . "Giggsy [Ryan Giggs], Rio [Ferdinand], [Nemanja] Vidic, they were all on their last legs basically. We were losing that presence in the dressing room. "There was literally me and Michael Carrick left still playing from that generation. Then you’re getting the likes of Jesse Lingard coming through, and [Danny] Welbeck, [Tom] Cleverley. They’ve had good careers but it was never the same. Luis Suarez of Liverpool goes down in the penalty area following a challenge by Phil Jones of Manchester United during the Barclays Premier League match between Manchester United and Liverpool at Old Trafford on March 16, 2014 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images) (Image: Alex Livesey/Getty Images) "Football was changing. The behaviour of players, of course we’d misbehave or go out do whatever, but I think everything was changing around football and I think that was a big time. "I always remember coming in after the Liverpool game when we got beat (at Old Trafford in 2014 under Moyes). Lads were coming in, dancing around the dressing room the next day, hip hop
music on. "I remember taking the music out. You can try to control as much as possible, but in the end you can’t really." Former team-mate Gary Neville was provoked, wondering if he was referring to a then-viral clip Lingard had posted on
Social Media of
Paul Pogba dancing in the dressing room. Laughing sheepishly, Rooney admitted that that was a separate incident. "That [Lingard clip dancing with Paul Pogba] was another one after that! You look at it and you just think it’s… (shrugs)."