Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has ideal chance for Man Utd tactic only used three times this season

Liverpool v Man Utd: Premier League preview

Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be riding high heading into the match against Liverpool this afternoon having won five of their last six Premier League matches, but facing the defending champions may see him revert back to a tactic rarely used this season. After a strong second half of the campaign last year where a 14-game unbeaten streak helped them finish third in the table, United went into the new season with some lofty expectations.

A large part of their success was due to the dynamic attacking force that Solskjaer had built.

Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford enjoyed their best season in front of goal while Mason Greenwood proved a revelation in his breakout year.

The attacking trio scored an impressive 44 Premier League goals between them – just two shy of Liverpool’s attacking force of Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah.

But Solskjaer has changed his tactics this season with Greenwood, Martial and Rashford lining up together on just three occasions so far.

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They started against Brighton back in September with United going on to win 3-2 courtesy of a late winner from Bruno Fernandes.

Solskjaer would trust the front three to start again in the following match against Tottenham though, which proved to be a disaster as Martial was sent off and United went on to get thumped 6-1.

Greenwood as well fell out of favour under Solskjaer with reports suggesting that United had grown frustrated with the 19-year-old for his tardiness.

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The teenager made a number of substitute appearances before being reinstated into the starting line up against Sheffield United last month.

Martial and Rashford were on top form as they helped lead United to a 3-2 win on the day while Greenwood showed glimpses of his talents.

United now come up against a Liverpool side void of any form recently with a host of issues in defence.

Greenwood, Martial and Rashford are arguably United’s most dynamic attacking options with bags of pace to trouble any defensive unit in Europe.

If Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez were fit to feature then focussing on playing four central midfielders like Solskjaer did against Manchester City would probably be the best way forward.

But with Joel Matip potentially returning from injury to play alongside Fabinho, Liverpool’s defence looks vulnerable.

United have the added bonus of potentially becoming the team to end Liverpool’s near five-year unbeaten run at Anfield.

Attack may well be the best form of defence for United this time around and it could take a brave move by Solskjaer to start Greenwood, Martial and Rashford for just the fourth time this season.

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