Paul Scholes feels Liverpool are favourites to beat Manchester United in the Premier League and claims Jose Mourinho has not been ruthless enough early in his Old Trafford tenure.

The two fierce rivals clash at Anfield on Monday, with seventh-placed United three points and three places back from Liverpool after an inconsistent start to their campaign under the Portuguese.

The Reds meanwhile have impressed so far in what is Jurgen Klopp's first full season in charge, prompting United great Scholes to grudgingly endorse the Red Devils' arch-rivals. 

"If you were betting, you would be betting on Liverpool," he told BBC Sport.

United have spent big to re-sign Paul Pogba from Juventus, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Eric Bailly and Zlatan Ibrahimovic also arriving at Old Trafford.

But Scholes believes Mourinho is still searching for his preferred starting line-up.

"He was not ruthless enough in the off season," the former England international said.

"There is so much confusion about who should play.

"What I saw of Mourinho at Chelsea, he had 13 or 14 players who played every week. He never rested players, even in the League Cup or whatever competition he was in.

"With United it is still a settling-in period - it is going to take a bit of time for them to knit together and see what they are about.

"Is there an identity to the team yet? I don't think there is."

In contrast to Mourinho's apparent uncertainty, Scholes heralded the unity of purpose seemingly evident at Liverpool.

"You can see Jurgen Klopp has stamped his way of playing football on the team," he said.

"There is a definite way about them. You know how they are going to play. They are going to be quick, they are going to try to take the ball off you and try to score goals by flooding the box.

"I was worried about them defensively - but they have already played some of the big teams and they are a real threat.

"The form they are in, they look as good as any team in the league."