Only ONE Manchester United player makes it into Alan Shearer’s combined XI with Liverpool ahead of crunch weekend Premier League clash. But can you guess who it is?

Liverpool and Man Utd have experienced very different seasons so far. Slot’s side are second in the league with 15 points from seven matches, but have lost their last three matches in all competitions. In contrast, United are floundering, sitting in tenth with just 10 points from seven games and were dumped out of the Carabao Cup by lowly Grimsby Town with pressure ramping up on boss Ruben Amorim, despite the recent win against Sunderland. And Shearer, the Premier League’s all-time top goalscorer believes this is reflected in how a combined team would line-up - with just the one player from Old Trafford. 

Speaking ahead of the match, Shearer told Betfair: "Liverpool v Man United is always big because of the size of both clubs and former players will always tell you that the fixture is huge and one they look out for which means so much to both sets of fans and players. With Liverpool having lost three on the spin which no-one saw coming and Man United being the way they are, there's no doubt there is extra spice to this game. It's a game that both teams have to go and win for different reasons. International breaks are always tricky because as a manager and club, you want to sit and work or go on the training ground and work on what's gone wrong but it's difficult when you've got so many international players away. It would've been a tricky two weeks for Slot and Amorim."

Hands up if you correctly guessed Luke Shaw was the only Man Utd player to make it into the XI. Well done! Shaw gets the nod ahead of Milos Kerkez at left-back, the only player from Amorim’s current crop to get the nod. Surprisingly, there’s no place for Alexander Isak, who’s still acclimatising to life at Anfield, with Hugo Ekitike being preferred instead, with Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo completing the front three. There’s also no place for mega-money signing Florian Wirtz, whose well-documented struggles means it’s Dominik Szoboszlai in midfield alongside Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch. In defence it’s Alisson Becker in goal with Conor Bradley, Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate completing the back four. 

Slot will rightly head into the match in a confident mood, if previous meetings are taken into account. Liverpool have lost just one of their last 14 Premier League meetings with Man Utd, a 1-2 defeat at Old Trafford in August 2022, they have won seven and drawn six. On Sunday’s showdown, Shearer added: "If Slot has a full squad to pick from then it wouldn't surprise me if he went back again to what worked for him again last season, particularly in such a volatile fixture. Man United would snap your hand off for a point, there's no doubt about that. It's easier said than done though because as we said, the noise around this fixture is great and there'll be a great atmosphere at Anfield. There always is."