LUCKY ONES
They may be unbeaten and fighting for the title, but Jose Mourinho says Liverpool know they have had rub of green
JOSE MOURINHO has christened unbeaten Liverpool ‘the lucky ones’ with Manchester United visiting Anfield as big underdogs today.
United are 16 points behind their fiercest rivals and rated an unlikely 5/1 to leave Merseyside with three points. However, Mourinho couldn’t resist a dig at Jurgen Klopp’s side, claiming they have enjoyed good fortune in three recent victories.
‘I think they are, of course, very confident about themselves,’ said Mourinho. ‘They are top of the league, they have this feeling of the lucky ones where everything goes in your direction.
‘They know how they beat Everton, they know that the opening goal in their last league match was offside against Bournemouth and they know against Napoli they could be out of the Champions League in the last seconds.
‘They have this feeling – that I also had when my teams were top of the league – when it looks like everything goes in your direction.’
United were one of only two Premier League teams to prevent Mo Salah from scoring last season and with Mourinho’s defensive credentials under rare scrutiny, he knows stopping his former player is key to pulling off an upset.
Traditionally, Mourinho is one of the game’s most respected organisers, but United have conceded 26 goals in 16 games this season, even more than Brighton. Their back-four has blundered frequently with team selection conducted through a revolving door.
Even David de Gea has caught the wobbles and, to make matters worse, Salah is lying in wait at Anfield, red-hot after a hat-trick last weekend and a Champions League winner against Napoli on Tuesday.
Mourinho infamously managed the Egyptian at Chelsea and twice sent him on loan to Fiorentina and Roma in 2015.
The 26-year-old’s progress since then has been remarkable and Mourinho says he cannot pass on much inside information about him to his current defenders based on their days together at Stamford Bridge.
‘The Salah I knew at Chelsea was a project player, now he is one of the best in the world,’ says Mourinho.
‘He has developed incredibly well since then on every level. He was a fast fragile boy and now he is a fast strong man. Physically amazing.
‘He was not psychologically adapted to the Premier League when he came from a small club in Switzerland (Basel) to a big club in England. I played him at White Hart Lane and the Etihad and it was too much for him.
‘Now he plays anywhere, Barcelona, Madrid, and he’s like, “I am Mo Salah and I am afraid of nobody”. Liverpool have many strengths but he is a nuclear strength.’
United let in only 28 goals in 2017-18 but that was then, this is now. Victor Lindelof and Luke Shaw are injured, while Chris Smalling (new contract and all) Eric Bailly, Antonio Valencia and Phil Jones have all fallen out of favour with Mourinho at different times this season.
They have only kept two clean sheets in the top flight all season, so if Mourinho wants to show he is not yesterday’s man, he must use his existing players and find a defensive plan that denies rampant Liverpool. He must stop Salah.