Erik ten Hag has not fallen into the same trap as David Moyes ahead of Manchester United vs Liverpool

A 15th anniversary in the history of the Manchester United-Liverpool fixture passed largely unnoticed in midweek: United's 4-1 defeat at Old Trafford.

There is another eerie anniversary for Liverpool to commemorate. Today marks a decade since they turned over United 3-0 on their own patch. Thirty-seven days later, David Moyes was summoned to the guillotine at Carrington early Tuesday morning.

Almost as infamous as United's disjointed performance that sorry Sunday was Moyes's pre-match proclamation that Liverpool, 11 points better off at kick-off, were the favourites.

"Their league position suggests they're ahead of us. They possibly do come here favourites," Moyes opined. Little has changed.

In the Old Trafford press conference room, a triumphant Brendan Rodgers scoffed at Moyes's rhetoric: "I was probably surprised before the game when I heard we were supposedly coming to Old Trafford as favourites.

READ MORE: Four United players set to return vs Liverpool

READ MORE: United confirm stance on Rashford's future

"I would never say that at Liverpool - even if I was bottom of the league."

"It's a difficult one," Erik ten Hag pondered on Friday. "I never think about who's favourite, it starts on zero. Make sure we are ready and I don't think about the opposition. I respect them, I respect every opposition. But it's about making it our game, it's about this. We know where the strengths are but also where the weaknesses are. It's about our team, it's about us."

The 2009 loss was United's heaviest at home since Dennis Bailey plundered a hat-trick for Queens Park Rangers on New Year's Day in 1992. The atmosphere was so sulphurous Liverpool fans flung an inflatable aeroplane around the away end - a reference to the Munich air