Image was designed by me using Canva.
Every club had high expectations going into the 2022/23 Premier League season, the preseason gave us an insight into what to expect from clubs when the new season kicked off. While some teams had a great preseason, it was the other way around for many teams as well but the preseason doesn't justify what the new season would look like.
Two teams have struggled since the kickoff on the 5th of August, they aren't the only ones struggling but their preseason performance made us believe that the season will be exceptional for them but it has been the other way around.
Liverpool got two victories out of five preseason matches, it wasn't the best of stats but winning the community shield against Manchester City made lots of fans believe they are prepared for the new season. Little did they know that injuries would turn the situation of things from good to worse for the club.
Jurgen Klopp and his boys reached the final of three titles last season which included the Uefa Champions League and two domestic titles, they played 38 games in the English Premier League as well and I expected knocks but not as much as we are seeing right now.
We wouldn't have known how bad it was for the team until they played against Crystal Palace, the draw against Fulham looks like a tradition already. It got worse for the team with Nunez Darwin's red card, the coach must be under critical stress on how to line up his men in the upcoming fixtures if his recovering players fail to be fit for the matches.
As it stands things could get more than terrible than just getting two points from two matches for the FA and Carabao Cup Champions.
Manchester United on the other hand have lost two out of two in the Premier League and you do be wondering how they are still struggling after what they show us during the preseason. United only lost one out of six preseason matches but they are currently sitting at the bottom of the league table with zero point after playing against Brentford and Brighton in the 2022/23 Premier League campaign.
I have seen lots of posts about why Manchester United is struggling, you can blame the board for not managing activities properly, you can blame the coach for not using some players but I stand on the fact that the majority of the Manchester United players aren't willing to play for some reasons and until the management find out why, we might not see the team give an impressive performance.
I think the players are in support of the Glazers stepping down as the owners of Manchester United and the only way they could make their feelings known is by not giving an impressive performance. If not, they have a good coach, they have great players, and no injuries except Martial so what's stopping the team from winning?
Winning preseason and giving a terrible performance in the real competition is like telling people that this is what we are capable of doing but we are not going to do it. The team needs players though but does that mean the players available can't even grind results out of matches?
Manchester United and Liverpool will go head to head over the weekend, these are wounded lions in the wild of the English Premier League. Even though they are wounded for different reasons, their results aren't far from each other.
The discussion about who will win the match has been going on for a few days and I see people going all out for Liverpool while some think Manchester United can do it again just like we saw in the preseason match between the two sides.
I respect everyone's opinion but it would interest you to know that this fixture would be a difficult one for both sides.
Liverpool hasn't won any match so far this season and Manchester United will be the perfect team to hand them their victory while Manchester United for old rivalry's sake wouldn't be going easy on Liverpool.
Liverpool has the biggest win percentage judging by stats but it would be a mistake to look down on Manchester United despite the crisis in the club. Ten Hag can capitalize on Liverpool's injuries, the match is an opportunity for Manchester United players to tell the world that they are fine and make their intentions known even without speaking a word.
I don't know what Jurgen Klopp has in mind but he has to come up with something to keep the team in shape before the return of his injured players. It might be just a bad start for both teams but they definitely wouldn't be giving the same performance we have seen in the previous weeks in matches to come, the fixture for matchday 3 between both teams is just a clash of wounded lions and It is hard to say which team will come out victorious.