Manchester United will face Liverpool this weekend in the FA Cup with a place in the semi-finals on the line.
This season has been horrendous for Manchester United, with early eliminations from both the Champions League and the League Cup.
This has placed a real importance on the FA Cup and with a win against Liverpool, hopes of silverware this season could increase.
Ultimately, as Gary Neville admitted, this game could end United’s season basically if they fail to win.
Now, Paul Merson has made his prediction for the game, and it sees him pointing to only one side as victor.
- READ MORE: Who is Gary Neville? Step into the world of the Manchester United legend turned top-tier pundit
Paul Merson predicts Manchester United vs Liverpool
Writing his predictions column on SportsKeeda, Merson has made a pretty damning prediction over United welcoming Liverpool to Old Trafford.
“If Jurgen Klopp fields a full-strength XI, there’s absolutely only one winner here.
“If you’re a Manchester United fan this weekend, you have to be patient. There’s every chance Erik ten Hag puts ten men behind the ball at home against Liverpool – which kind of shows how badly the Red Devils have fallen in recent years. It’s not going to be a nice watch for them.
“Wataru Endo is a player I’ve been really impressed by, what a signing he’s been! Very rarely does Klopp get it wrong with transfers, I can’t recall looking at one of their signings over the years and saying ‘damn, he was a major waste of money’, which is a huge compliment to everyone who works behind the scenes.
“The likes of Jarell Quansah and Conor Bradley have also been absolutely different class. Liverpool have good professionals at the club, making it a great environment for these young players to come into the team and flourish.”
Finally, Merson named his scoreline to be Manchester United 1-3 Liverpool at Old Trafford. This scoreline would see United’s season effectively end with Champions League qualification a slim possibility.
A loss could seal Ten Hag’s future
The FA Cup wasn’t ever going to be decisive in whether Ineos decided to keep Ten Hag or not.
However, with this loss and being knocked out of the FA Cup, there wouldn’t be anything to play for really, with Champions League football looking like a reach this season.
The players therefore could mentally switch off leading to a dip in performances which wouldn’t help Ten Hag’s case, if Ineos were yet to be convinced of his position.
Receive a digest of our best United content each week direct to your mailbox
