THEY’VE COME TO THE PARTY Single col headline style here
The last time United played the Kop it spelt misery for Jose..now they’re playing fun football warns Robertson
LIVERPOOL are bracing themselves for a Manchester United backlash on Sunday.
The Merseysiders know they will face very different opponents from the side that lay down and rolled over at Anfield in what proved to be Jose Mourinho’s disastrous last game in charge.
United meekly surrendered during the 3-1 defeat in December which got their manager the sack, but now they have a new-found confidence – and attitude – under caretaker boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
And Liverpool admit they are facing a huge threat to their title challenge against a side that have won 11 of 13 games since that low point of the season, with Andy Robertson suggesting United’s players have finally turned up under Solskjaer.
“You look at their squad and it’s full of stars – they have come to the party and have a fantastic team,” said the Liverpool fullback (celebrating the victory over United with team-mates Xherdan Shaqiri and Mo Salah, top).
“It is always a big game against them, but this is a huge one because they’re a different team playing some really good football. We need to be wary of them.
“We know what we’re coming up against and we need to stop their danger men, but hopefully we have got enough to cause them problems as well to get the result that we need.”
Liverpool know this game is their chance to go back to the top of the Premier League, but defeat would gift the initiative to rivals Manchester City, who lead the table on goal difference having played a game more.
Defeat would be devastating to the Kop hopes of becoming
Champions for the first time in
29 years... and
United will be even more motivated than usual because of that Anfield humiliation.
Since then,
Solskjaer has transformed a mentality that wasn’t strong enough under Mourinho (above). The new man is getting the best out of players who didn’t seem to perform under the previous regime.
That, according to Gini Wijnaldum, makes them a tougher prospect now. “It is going to be a real big change,” said Liverpool’s Dutch midfielder.
“Since the new manager came in there is a new flow, they have performed well and have won a lot, and that is building confidence in the team.
“It’s also a home game for United and they don’t have the problems they had before, so the match has come at a good time for them.
“It is going to be a difficult game – but I am looking forward to it.”
The fixture also comes after Liverpool had an intense encounter against Bayern Munich in the Champions League, where they struggled to break down the defensive Germans.
Many think that now hands the initiative to Bayern, but Wijnaldum bristled when the idea was put to him that
Munich were now favourites to reach the quarter-finals.
“Why is a goalless draw a better result for them?” he said. “If we go there and score then they have to score two.
“I’m not saying it is a bad result for them, but they know we are dangerous.
“I don’t think they will play really open in Munich because they know we are good on the counterattack but they also know we score goals with good football.
“The way we are playing we have the quality to create chances so that is why
I am happy we didn’t concede. I am not really worried about scoring goals.
“We have already shown we can do it in the games this season
– so we just have to do it again. Hopefully we will have a little more luck with the chances.” 17 14 3 17 7 5 26 20 5 MAN UNITED 26 15 6
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