Liverpool vs Man Utd includes piece of history that's not happened for over 50 years

Liverpool vs Manchester United will include a piece of history that hasn't been seen in over 50 years.

The Reds are hosting United this afternoon, looking to regain their position at the top of the Premier League table after Arsenal's win over Brighton and Aston Villa's victory over Brentford.

Last season's fixture at Anfield ended in an infamous 7-0 victory to the hosts, and United fans have been fearing that another morale-damaging defeat could be inflicted on them by Jurgen Klopp's side.

Erik ten Hag is currently dealing with a defensive injury crisis that has forced him into several changes to his back four, including the reintroduction of Jonny Evans, and is desperate to see a response over 90 minutes after United were dumped out of Europe following their 1-0 defeat to Bayern Munich on Tuesday.

There was a special moment of history created before kick-off, however, with Anfield re-opening its Anfield Road Stand to supporters after it was closed to perform renovation work.

As a result, according to The Athletic's James Pearce, the completion of the £80 million project means Liverpool are playing in front of their biggest crowd since April 1973.

On that occasion, Bill Shankly's Reds drew 0-0 with Leicester in the First Division - and Liverpool have not played in front of as many fans in a league fixture in the 50 years that have passed since then.

It will not break the Anfield capacity record for a league game, though, with that figure standing at the 58,757 fans that watched George Kay's side face Chelsea in December 1949.

A safety certificate was granted to Liverpool in order to open the stand following a test event which took place on Monday.

The event was attended by manager Jurgen Klopp, who gave a short speech to the fans in attendance at Anfield.

In his pre-United programme notes about the new stand, Klopp wrote: "Today, with the new Anfield Road Stand close to being completely open we will have more of our supporters in this ground than at any time in the last 50 years.

"This gives us a wonderful opportunity so we should look to make the most of it in the same way that we have always done - by being together and trying to bring out the best in one another."