Arne Slot was probably expecting his first question to be about Trent Alexander-Arnold when he sat down for his press conference on Friday. After all, Real Madrid’s bid for the right-back has been dominating the headlines over the last few days.

The Liverpool boss was taken aback though when he was instead asked whether he would consider making any changes against Manchester United on Sunday.

“That’s a strange question,” was Slot’s immediate reaction. After all, why would you make changes against perhaps your biggest rival?

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It’s a suggestion that has become something of a joke over the past week among Liverpool fans - the idea being that, given United’s current predicament, Slot might rest his players for Sunday’s game in order to focus on the FA Cup clash with League Two side Accrington Stanley the following week. It’s the sort of thing you might have spotted on social media recently, but probably not something you’d expect to actually be put to the Reds boss.

Of course, Slot took the diplomatic approach, even suggesting that United’s current position is a false one. There was no way the Dutchman was going to say anything that could come back to bite him later.

Let’s be honest though, the Liverpool boss is wrong. United isn’t in a false position - in fact, Ruben Amorim’s side being 23 points behind the Reds ahead of Sunday’s game probably flatters them.

United are an absolute shambles at the moment, and possibly even worse than they were when Liverpool visited Old Trafford back in September, which is quite a feat in itself. Even Gary Neville can’t make a decent case for his old side.

“You're watching the worst pound-for-pound football team in the country, bar none,” he said while watching them being ripped apart by Newcastle. Bear in mind, this is the same Gary Neville that confidently predicted United would finish in the top four this season, and that Liverpool wouldn’t even finish in a European spot.

Based on current evidence, United would do well just to finish in the top half. Amorim’s admission that his side could be fighting relegation felt like an overreaction to many, but he might not be too far off the money.

When you look at the current Premier League table, you can’t really make an argument for United being better than any of the 13 teams ahead of them, bar perhaps West Ham. What’s more, based on current form, you could certainly argue that Crystal Palace and Wolves are better, which would leave them in the bottom five.

It would probably be a stretch to suggest they’re worse than any of the current bottom three or Everton, but United’s season already looks to be a write-off. The players certainly don’t look like they’re willing to put up much of a fight.

Slot did the right thing by not taking the bait of mocking Liverpool’s rival in any way, but even he must know that United shouldn’t pose any sort of threat on Sunday. In years gone by, United might have stepped up to claim some sort of result at Anfield - right now, it’s hard to see anything but a big win for the hosts.