Predicted XI | MUFC vs. Liverpool (22/3/2015)

At the risk of repeating myself and appearing to get a little too carried away with what was our one decent performance of the season, I feel we should take a lot of the positives from Sunday's win against Tottenham into the Liverpool game this weekend. I don't think anyone is expecting the same sort of free-roaming football from the likes of Carrick, Fellaini or Rooney this time though, as Liverpool are a much tougher nut to crack (their last defeat in the league was against United in December - that's a run of nine wins and three draws in their last 12 games).

Consistency is something LVG's United line-ups have seriously lacked this season - initially as a result of a crazy injury-hit start to the season, but now it seems he is still continually trying to figure out what his best side is. As our most assured display of the season, even if it was against a very poor Tottenham side, surely the smart move would be to try and stick to this formula for the coming weeks and see how we fair against the tougher opposition we face in the build-up to the end of the season?

The main issue going into the Liverpool game is the selection problem Di Maria's return from suspension will present. Does van Gaal reintroduce the club's most expensive signing who is fit and available and opt to leave out Mata, who had a great game at the weekend? Personally, I see absolutely no reason why Di Maria, on current form, deserves a recall to the team and risk disrupting the midfield which was pivotal in last weekend's win.

On that note - for my team I have stuck with the same midfield and strike combination, making changes to the back only. I thought Smalling had a poor game against Spurs so - assuming Rojo is fit to return - feel he should be replaced. And I still feel Rafael deserves to start the next few games in place of Valencia, even if he did improve from his awful display against Arsenal though. With the threat Liverpool pose on the wings thanks to Coutinho, Sterling and Lallana we cannot afford to be caught out by a wing-back that loves a wonder.