- Manchester United face Liverpool tomorrow
- The Red Devils’ top five wins over their rivals
- What matches are included?
On Sunday at 3:30 pm, one of football’s fiercest rivalries ignites once more, as Liverpool travel up the M62 to face their old foe, Manchester United.
A rivalry stretching back over 130 years, the first meeting between these sides came on 28 April 1894, when Liverpool defeated Newton Heath—who would, of course, become Manchester United—2-0 in a Football League Test Match.
That result secured Liverpool’s election to the First Division, while Newton Heath, having finished bottom, dropped into the Second Division.
From there, a rivalry was born. The two sides had, however, already faced each other once before.
In a largely forgotten fixture, they met in a pre-season friendly on 6 September 1893.
In the years since, 217 matches have followed. United hold the edge with 84 wins to Liverpool’s 72, although the Merseyside side have asserted dominance in recent years, even humiliating the Red Devils 7-0—the heaviest defeat in the fixture’s history.
But what are Manchester United’s five greatest wins against Liverpool?
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Manchester United 4-3 Liverpool – 2024
Starting with the recent past, United’s 4-3 victory over Liverpool in the 2023/24 FA Cup quarter-finals stands as one of the most breathtaking matches the game has produced.
An end-to-end spectacle that saw Liverpool dominate for large stretches, the contest turned when Antony—who had not scored at Old Trafford for over a year—equalised in the 87th minute, after Scott McTominay had opened the scoring in the first half, only for Alexis Mac Allister and Mohamed Salah to respond with two swift strikes.
Extra-time proved just as fruitful as the 90 minutes that preceded it.
A long-range effort from Harvey Elliott restored Liverpool’s lead for the second time, his strike deflecting off Harry Maguire before looping past Andre Onana.
That advantage did not last. Marcus Rashford drew United level once more in the 112th minute, meeting a perfectly weighted pass from McTominay to make it 3-3—the fourth time the sides had been level.
As penalties loomed, Liverpool won a corner in the 121st minute, and the hearts of United fans beat in unison.
Konstantinos Tsimikas swung it in, but the ball fell loose on the edge of the box. Amad Diallo seized the moment, stole possession from Elliott, and surged forward.
Diallo and Alejandro Garnacho broke at pace. The pass from Garnacho lacked precision, but Diallo adjusted, created space, and finished with composure, guiding the ball into the bottom corner.
United not only secured a dramatic 4-3 victory, but carried that momentum all the way to FA Cup glory.
Manchester United 2-1 Liverpool – 2002
“Diego, wooah, Diego, wooah; He came from Uruguay, he made the Scousers cry.”
Many would argue Diego Forlan’s Manchester United career never truly fulfilled its early promise.
98 appearances across four seasons yielded just 17 goals. It took seven months for him to score his first.
But his brace against Liverpool on 1 December, 2002 elevated him from frustration to cult hero.
United entered the match fifth, five points behind second-placed Liverpool and six off leaders Arsenal. A defeat risked allowing both rivals to pull away.
Forlan’s first came in the 65th minute, after Jamie Carragher headed back to Jerzy Dudek, who fumbled under minimal pressure, gifting the Uruguayan a simple finish.
Two minutes later, Sami Hyypia failed to intercept Ryan Giggs’ pass, and Forlan struck again, doubling United’s lead in devastatingly quick fashion.
Hyypia later halved the deficit, but the damage had been done. Forlan’s rapid double secured the win and kept United firmly in the title race—a race they would go on to win.
Manchetser United 2-0 Liverpool and Manchetser United 2-1 Liverpool – 1998/99
There is no way that I can separate either of these fixtures, due to how important either was in United’s treble-winning season.
Losing just one of these games would have catapulted United into despair, and the treble simply would have never happened.
The first
In the sixth match of the 1998/99 Premier League season, Manchester United overturned their Highbury nightmare, responding to a 3-0 defeat to Arsenal by defeating Liverpool 2-0 in a hugely significant encounter.
Despite being early in the campaign, United had just handed Arsenal their first win of the season, while Liverpool and Aston Villa sat above them in the table.
Ferguson demanded a response.
A defensive lapse provided it. Brad Friedel failed to clear David Beckham’s cross, his weak punch looping onto Jason McAteer’s arm, gifting United an early penalty.
Denis Irwin converted with composure, sending the American the wrong way.
United then spent large periods under pressure, Liverpool dominating possession and territory.
There would be no comeback, however, as Paul Scholes produced a stunning strike in the 79th minute to seal the result.
The second
Exactly four months on from United’s 2-0 victory over Liverpool in the league, the two faced off in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
United had not been beaten by their rivals in the competition since 1921, but after a Michael Owen header in the second minute, United looked to be heading out, still trailing 1-0 in the 87th minute.
That all changed, however, in the 88th minute, as the talismanic Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke combined once again to inflict pain on Liverpool, with Cole’s header finding a free Yorke, who could hardly miss from two yards out.
As the game looked set for a replay—a difficult prospect, with United required to travel to Anfield—United continued to push forward.
This time, it was Ole Gunnar Solskjaer who sent the United fans into ecstasy, his 90th-minute strike sending Old Trafford into pure pandemonium, while Martin Tyler delivered the now-iconic “SOLSKJAER!” as the stadium erupted.
Manchester United 1-0 Liverpool – FA Cup final 1996
A match remembered for many reasons, and infamous for even more.
The 1995/96 FA Cup final marked the second meeting between Manchester United and Liverpool in the competition, as United chased a historic second double—becoming the first team in English football to achieve it.
United had already overcome a formidable Newcastle side, led by Kevin Keegan, who had delivered the famous line, “I would love it if we beat them, love it,” but now faced their fiercest rivals on the grandest stage.
The match became iconic for a multitude of reasons, but none more so than Liverpool’s decision to arrive in matching cream Armani suits.
In an era where marketing boomed, and photogenic players like Jamie Redknapp and Ryan Giggs generated thousands through endorsements, Liverpool’s squad earned the nickname ‘Spice Boys,’ fuelled further by rumours surrounding Robbie Fowler’s links to Baby Spice.
The match itself proved a tense, attritional affair, with little separating the two sides for long stretches.
For 85 minutes, the game remained deadlocked.
Then came the moment.
Eric Cantona, United’s talisman, met a loose ball after David James failed to deal with a punch, and from just outside the box, volleyed it with precision and authority into the net.
A decisive, defining strike.
Even decades later, Liverpool’s infamous suits remain a source of ridicule.
Manchester United 2-1 Liverpool – 1977 FA Cup final
There is, of course, no match that has carried more weight in the history of this rivalry.
In the 1976/77 season, Manchester United competed in just their second consecutive campaign back in England’s top division, following relegation in 1973/74.
In their first season back, Tommy Docherty’s youthful side impressed, finishing third and qualifying for the UEFA Cup.
Liverpool, however, claimed the league title that year, and a season later, little had changed—aside from United slipping further down the table, finishing ten points behind their north-west rivals, and nine behind Manchester City.
During this period, Liverpool surged forward, cementing themselves as the dominant force in English football, boasting ten league titles and two UEFA Cups within four years.
By the time the FA Cup final arrived, Liverpool had already secured the league and stood on the brink of history, preparing to contest both the FA Cup and the European Cup.
Victory in both would have sealed a historic treble.
United had other ideas.
The match began cautiously, with little goalmouth action in the first half as both sides understood the magnitude of the occasion.
Then, the game exploded into life in the 50th minute.
A frantic five-minute spell defined the contest.
A loose pass from Kevin Keegan—his final appearance in a Liverpool shirt—allowed United to seize possession, and Emlyn Hughes failed to intervene as Jimmy Greenhoff moved the ball on to Stuart Pearson.
The striker drove forward and finished decisively past Ray Clemence.
Liverpool responded almost immediately.
As BBC commentator John Motson declared, “Liverpool are at their most dangerous when behind,” Jimmy Case levelled the score just two minutes later.
Moments later, United struck again.
Lou Macari floated the ball into the box, Greenhoff brought it down, laid it back, and Macari’s strike deflected off Greenhoff’s chest, looping into the net.
It proved the decisive moment.
United held firm, denying Liverpool their treble and securing a famous victory in Docherty’s final match in charge before his dismissal just weeks later due to revelations about his private life and an affair with his physio’s wife.
