Manchester United face their fiercest rival at Old Trafford on Saturday evening: Liverpool. The Merseyside outfit come to Manchester with the same number of points as the Red Devils, so it’s a massive game in those terms too; the winner may well be in the top 4 by the end of the week, whilst the loser definitely will not – and a draw won’t be in the minds of either team heading into the game. Here’s how the last five games between the two panned out:

Liverpool 1-2 Manchester United

This was the Juan Mata’s game. The Spaniard opened the scoring in the 14th minute before producing one of the best goals of this tie in recent time. Angel di Maria floated a lovely ball into the box for him and he finished it off well, like this…

What a finish. Sturridge went on to score and make the closing stages a little more competitive but it was the Red Devils who were on top at Anfield in what was a miserable day for the Kop. It perhaps would have been a tighter game had Steven Gerrard not been sent off within a minute of coming on as a substitute at the start of the second half. What an occasion!

Manchester United 3-0 Liverpool

The score may have been 3-0 to United but it was David de Gea who stood out the last time the two sides met at Old Trafford. It would have been a very different game but for the Spanish international ‘keeper, who denied Raheem Sterling on a number of occasions with some fantastic saves when the winger was odds-on to score.

The goals in this one came from Rooney, Mata and Robin van Persie. Mata assisted van Persie’s effort too; he seems to be Liverpool’s kryptonite.

Liverpool 1-3 Manchester United

The first in what is currently a three-game winning streak for United against their bitter rivals, this win came in the International Champions Cup whilst the sides were on their pre-season tour of the United States. Goals from Rooney, Mata(!) and Jesse Lingard saw United breeze to victory, whilst it was Steven Gerrard who netted for the Reds. It concluded an unbeaten first pre-season for Louis van Gaal as United manager, seeing United win the International Champions Cup.

Manchester United 0-3 Liverpool

A highly controversial game, this one is one to forget for Manchester United. Two penalties from Steven Gerrard and a goal from the mercurial Luis Suarez, as well as a red card for Nemanja Vidic saw United slump to defeat. It summed up David Moyes’ United as there was no real fight to get back into the game; Gerrard had a third goal disallowed. Even Juan Mata couldn’t save the Red Devils.

Manchester United 1-0 Liverpool

Names such as Ryan Giggs, Shinji Kagawa and Alexander Buttner were in United’s starting eleven for this one. The only goal of the game was scored by Javier Hernandez, who bagged immediately after half-time. It was somewhat of a lacklustre display from both sides, and again fairly summative of David Moyes’ Manchester United. Let’s hope for a bit more from van Gaal’s men this weekend!