The Reds have 61 points from a possible 63 and are on a club record 38-match unbeaten run – their last defeat coming in January last year against Manchester City.

Liverpool, the European and world club champions and on course to become Premier League invincibles, have won their last 18 matches at Anfield and not lost at home in the top flight since April 2017.

Jurgen Klopp’s men have also scored in every league match this campaign, equalling the club’s best streak from the start of a season while going 585 minutes without conceding – six successive clean sheets.

United have lost six times this season and are fifth in the league, 27 points adrift of their arch-rivals having played one game more.

Klopp, however, is preparing for another tricky challenge.

“The rest of the season is still quite long and we have a lot of tough games to play, the next one especially tough, and we have to make sure we are ready for that,” he said after Liverpool beat Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 on Sunday.

United striker Marcus Rashford, who scored against Liverpool at Old Trafford, started Wednesday’s FA Cup third-round replay against Wolverhampton Wanderers on the bench but he was sent on in the second half and lasted only 15 minutes before leaving the field due to injury.

That will be a major concern for manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer but better news for him is the likely return of defender Eric Bailly, sidelined since July with a knee injury.