Football
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Liverpool out to end winless home league run vs. Manchester United

Liverpool will try to win their first Premier League game against Manchester United since 2014 when the teams meet at Anfield on Saturday.

That winless run, which includes four losses -- and, last season, two draws -- is the worst for Liverpool against United since they went eight Premier League games without a victory between 2004 and 2008.

Although Liverpool are winless in their last six league games, they did claim a 2-0 victory over United in the home leg of a Europa League round-of-16 tie between the teams on March 10, 2016. They advanced 3-1 on aggregate but lost two months later to Sevilla in the Europa League final.

United have won three of their last five visits to Anfield in the Premier League and have kept a clean sheet in their two most recent games. That may continue on Saturday, as United have kept 17 clean sheets in the Premier League this year -- three more than any other side.

They have also recorded a clean sheet in eight of their last nine Premier League games, with a 2-2 draw at Stoke City on Sept. 9 the only time they have conceded a goal this season.

The game will be the eighth competitive meeting between Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp and United's Jose Mourinho, with Klopp losing just once in the seven previous games -- a 2-0 victory by Real Madrid over Borussia Dortmund in the second leg of the Champions League semifinal on April 30, 2013. Dortmund still advanced 4-3 on aggregate after Robert Lewandowski scored four goals in the first leg.

Mourinho was initially successful against Liverpool, winning eight of his first 10 games against them in the Premier League across two spells at Chelsea between October 2004 and November 2014. He has since failed to win his last four, however, losing once with three draws.

Since Mourinho took over as United manager prior to the 2016-17 season, the two clubs have each won 88 points in the Premier League. Liverpool have outscored United by 16 goals, 91 to 75, but have also conceded 23 more goals, 54 to 31.

Should United win on Saturday, they will have 22 points -- their best start after eight games of a Premier League season. Meanwhile, if Liverpool fail to win, they will have 12 points through eight games, matching the total they had at the same stage in 2015-16, when Brendan Rodgers was sacked as manager.

One player who could help United set that mark is Romelu Lukaku, who could become the first player to score eight goals in his first eight Premier League appearances with the club.

Lukaku became the second player -- after Andy Cole -- to score seven goals in his first seven Premier League appearances with United, when he scored in the 86th minute of a 4-0 home victory against Crystal Palace on Sept. 30.

Although Lukaku scored four goals in his first four Premier League games against Liverpool, he has scored just once in his last seven games against the club.

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