Erik ten Hag has not subjected Manchester United’s squad to a video nasty. Or not this particular one, anyway. Ten Hag can show his players clips from previous games; he used footage from their win over Chelsea to prepare for Bayern Munich. Revisiting March’s 7-0 thrashing at Anfield, however, is not on his agenda. “I don’t think it’s the right thing [to do],” the United manager said. “Last year, it was the past. What we can change is the future.”
Both the past and the future have a pertinence, however, as Ten Hag returns to the scene of United’s heaviest ever defeat to Liverpool. Nine months ago, he had a team in ripe form, one that had won a trophy a week earlier. He had a fit Casemiro and Lisandro Martinez, but both will miss the rematch. He had Bruno Fernandes available, but now his captain is suspended. He had Marcus Rashford in such form that the forward went to Merseyside with 17 goals in his previous 20 games; now he has not scored in open play for more than three months. Then he faced a Liverpool team eight points behind United.
