Man U will get off mat with upset of Liverpool

It may sound weird, but there’s perhaps no better time to buy Manchester United than right now.

Sitting last in the Premier League and dealing with an absolute circus of offthe-field drama, the market on United is perhaps as low as it has ever been. To make matters worse, the Red Devils will host eternal rivals Liverpool on Monday.

The general consensus around the soccer world is that Liverpool, despite starting the season with back-to-back draws, should batter a United team in disarray. However, it’s hard to lay this kind of number on a road favorite that is dealing with an injury crisis.

Not only will Liverpool be without center back Joel Matip, but its best midfielder (and arguably most important player), Thiago Alcantara, will also be on the sidelines. Manchester United’s biggest issue this season has been getting overrun in the middle of the park, but that weakness should be negated somewhat by Liverpool’s injuries.

And while Liverpool has created plenty of scoring chances in its first two matches against Fulham and Crystal Palace, it was vulnerable defensively and now will need to cope with a much better attack than the ones they saw in the first two weeks of the season.

Almost everyone will say that a bet on Manchester United in its current state is a fool’s errand, but savvy bettors know that this is the exact time to buy low on a team, especially one that was projected to be fifth-best in the league before the season.

THE PLAY: Manchester United +420 (FanDuel).

Michael Leboff handicaps the English Premier League for Action Network.