‘Struggling’ Liverpool player set for rare starting XI chance against Man United and it could shape his season

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Liverpool are heading into 2025 in brilliant shape after thrashing West Ham on Sunday.

The Reds closed out 2024 in spectacular fashion, romping home to a 5-0 win over the Hammers in East London.

The win meant Liverpool will end the year on top of the Premier League table and will sit at least six points clear on January the 1st.

And as they look ahead to what is set to be a key year at Anfield, Liverpool have a great chance to get 2025 off to the perfect start on Sunday.

Out of form Manchester United come to Anfield next weekend with Liverpool looking to pile further misery on their biggest rivals.

Arne Slot will have to make some decisions over his starting XI on the day, with a couple of injury issues still to contend with. And with Joe Gomez set to miss a while with a hamstring injury, Sunday represents an enormous – and rare – chance for Jarell Quansah.

Jarell Quansah set for Man United chance

Quansah has had a difficult season so far. The 21-year-old looked primed to kick on after a breakout campaign last time out, even starting the term as the preferred partner for Virgil van Dijk.

But after falling out of the team, Steve Nicol claimed Quansah was ‘struggling‘ back in November and the Liverpool academy graduate has just eight appearances to his name under Slot.

Gomez’s injury has presented Quansah with a fresh opportunity, though, and he must make the most of the minutes about to come his way.

Slot was pleased with Quansah against West Ham but Sunday’s game at Anfield provides a much bigger stage for the youngster to send a reminder of his quality.

READ MORE: Jarell Quansah explains how he’s feeling about playing for Liverpool against Man United after Joe Gomez injury

With Ibrahima Konate still injured for the moment, it’s hard to see anything other than a Quansah start alongside Van Dijk against United.

Konate shouldn’t miss too much longer, but if the No.78 can make his mark, then maybe he can start to remind Slot why he started the season ahead of the Frenchman in the pecking order.

Quansah season rests on United performance

Of course Sunday’s game will not be the last time Quansah lines up for Liverpool this season no matter how it goes. But it could certainly help to define how the rest of his campaign goes.

With Gomez set for a spell out, Quansah will automatically be bumped up to third choice. And given Konate’s history of injury, that should mean a fair bit of action for the England U21 star.

However, it’s fairly clear that Liverpool do need to buy a new centre-back having kept their powder dry since Konate’s signing in 2021.

If Quansah struggles against United, perhaps Slot will feel the need to pull the trigger on a target in January, thus reducing his chances for the rest of the campaign.

Whichever way you square it, Sunday is a big one for Jarell. It’s a chance to restore his confidence to the levels of last season, but a poor display could easily have the opposite effect.