LIVERPOOL versus Manchester United used to be one of English football’s fiercest rivalries. At present, Sunday’s showdown at Anfield pits two teams going in opposite directions.

Liverpool, top of the Premier League and the Champions League, have their sights set on equalling the United’s record 20 Premier League titles and more. Liverpool has lost to the Red Devils just once in seven years in the Premier League, and most recently won 3-0 at Old Trafford in September.

United is closer to the relegation zone than the top, the result of another calamitous campaign which has seen the departure of a manager, a sporting director and the exile of one of its leading players.

The gap between Liverpool and United is widening to the point where one is in contention for a quadruple of trophies, and the other is talking about top flight survival.

How have English football’s two most successful teams ended up on such differing paths?

Managerial mistakes

United has been in alarming decline since winning a record 20th title in Alex Ferguson’s final season as manager in 2013. It hasn’t come close to winning another since his retirement. Ruben Amorim is the sixth permanent manager hired in the last 11-plus years.

David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Erik ten Hag all failed to deliver consistent success and the upheaval from so much managerial change has repeatedly set back United as the club has lurched from one direction to another.

Amorim has quickly realised the size of the job at hand after suffering six defeats in his last eight games. This week he admitted he could be in a relegation fight.

“It is a possibility,” he said. “We have to be clear with our fans.”

Succession planning

While United has made a mess of trying to replace a managerial great, Liverpool has made it look easy.

Arne Slot took on the unenviable task of filling the void left by the beloved Jurgen Klopp at the end of last season and has driven the team to new levels.

Klopp won a full set of trophies at Anfield and was denied much more success in the Premier League than just the 2020 title, only by Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.

Slot has Liverpool leading the Premier League by six points with a game in hand, the Champions League by three points, and through to the semi-finals of the League Cup.

Perhaps he has been fortunate to take over when City has gone into free-fall, but Liverpool’s 14 wins from 18 games in the league would be title-challenging form in any season.

Transfers

Billions have been spent at United yet there have been more costly errors than transfer successes.

Superstar signings such as Angel di Maria, Alexis Sanchez, Paul Pogba, Casemiro and Jadon Sancho have proved to be big disappointments. From the last transfer window, signees such as Joshua Zirkzee and Matthijs de Ligt have struggled.

Amorim is likely to have to sell in January if he wants to bring more players in and Marcus Rashford, recently dropped from the team, could be his best chance of raising funds.

Conversely, Liverpool has been one of the savviest operators in the transfer market over the past decade. When it has spent big, it has generally spent well, with the likes of Virgil van Dijk and Alisson proving pillars of its trophy haul. Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson were relative bargains.

Savvy ownership

Under Fenway Sports Group (FSG), the American conglomerate that also owns the Boston Red Sox, Liverpool became a major force in England and Europe again and ended a 30-year title drought in the Premier League.

The hiring of Klopp was pivotal to that but so was Michael Edwards, the sporting director who was integral to so many transfer successes. He left in 2022 but is back as FSG chief executive of football and helped to guide the transition to Slot.

United’s American owner, the Glazer family, has faced regular fan protests since its leveraged buyout of the club in 2005.

The minority investment by British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe last year sparked optimism. He assumed control of the club’s football operations, but that hasn’t gone to plan so far.

Ten Hag was fired months after signing a contract extension and sporting director Dan Ashworth departed after less than six months. The signings in Ratcliffe’s first summer transfer window also look questionable with United 14th in the standings and just seven points above the relegation zone.

The future

Liverpool is enjoying an outstanding campaign with big issues to be resolved.

Salah, Van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold are out of contract after this season. Salah and Van Dijk are in their 30s and in dispute is the length of contract Liverpool is prepared to offer them. Alexander-Arnold, meanwhile, is reportedly a target for Real Madrid.

Amorim’s immediate concern is how to turn around United’s form. Long term, his squad looks ill-suited to his preferred system.