SOLSKJAER SEEKS DIVINE INTERVENTION FROM OLD BOSS FERGUSON
OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER would welcome Sir Alex Ferguson giving his Manchester United team talk tomorrow to hammer home just how much it would mean to beat Liverpool. United host Liverpool at Old Trafford tomorrow, in the reverse fixture of Jose Mourinho’s miserable last game as boss — a 3-1 defeat at Anfield. And Solskjaer says his players are up for denting Liverpool’s Premier League title hopes, although he is open to additional inspiration.
‘We know how big the game is for Manchester United, the staff and supporters,’ said Solskjaer. ‘We want to build this team into one that is worthy of United’s history. ‘The gaffer (Ferguson) would be welcome to talk to the players if he wanted to, because we know how much it meant to him to overtake Liverpool. ‘I played in a few of these and I know the magnitude of it, we’ve been looking forward to it. We have to stay focused and controlled — but with some fight in us as well.’ Asked if he would prefer third-placed Tottenham to win the title ahead of Liverpool and Manchester City, Solskjaer replied: ‘I don’t really get myself involved in that — but maybe!’ United expect Anthony Martial to be fit to start and hope Jesse Lingard will be too, despite both players initially being ruled out for up to three weeks after sustaining injuries against Paris Saint-Germain. Meanwhile, Jurgen Klopp believes his team have the perfect opportunity to strike back in a clash he labelled ‘THE game’. Liverpool have won just five times at Old Trafford since 1990 and only one of those triumphs have come since 2004; their last victory, a 3-0 blitzing in March 2014, was the catalyst for a title assault that came up just short. ‘If we see it like a lot of people see it, that it is THE game, that’s too
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