MO MINUTES... MO PROBLEMS *
*for United as Salah ‘ready’ to go
MANCHESTER UTD V LIVERPOOL TOMORROW, 3.30PM, LIVE ON ITV 1 JURGEN KLOPP believes Mohamed Salah is back to his best just in time to face Manchester United tomorrow.
Salah has a fine record against United as his 12 goals are the most anyone has scored in this fixture.
Salah became the first Liverpool ace to net at least 20 times in seven successive seasons against Sparta Prague on Thursday and Klopp says the Egyptian is “pure quality”.
The Reds boss said: “The timing is super good.
“Mo is pure quality. Ask him what he likes most about Man United? But the more we talk about it, the less likely it will happen on Sunday.
“It’s just he’s an exceptional guy, a world class player. How we dealt without him is unbelievable, the boys did really well.
“But it’s better to have him around and on the pitch than just in the dressing room, so that’s good. We can build it now and, yes, he’s ready for Sunday.”
United are the only side to stop Liverpool scoring when they drew 0-0 at Anfield in December, but Klopp has a different take on that.
Liverpool had 34 shots and Klopp says that was the first time this season he saw his side “in the next gear”.
And he believes United must be more adventurous because they are at home in the FA Cup quarter-final showdown.
He added: “I would call this game the start of when we reached the next level for the season.
“Until then we were OK. We only lost one game but sometimes it was really good, sometimes not.
“It was difficult to judge us. We had so many things to overcome like red cards, being 1-0 down, so it wasn’t clear how good we actually are. That game, I first saw that was really us in the next gear.
“The result didn’t show that but a lot of aspects in our game that day were really good.”
Meanwhile, Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag is convinced his side can rescue their season by knocking Liverpool out.
United exited the Champions League after finishing bottom of their group and have failed to mount a title challenge.
They are currently sixth, eight points off fourth, with Champions League football looking unlikely.
But ten Hag said: “On Sunday we have another good opportunity to get momentum.
“The players and the team have showed lately, from January onwards, that we’re in a very good series of games. We’ve had a lot of wins and the players have to have the belief that we can do it.
“That’s what I feel in training – the spirit, the confidence, so go out and play and get the turnaround.
“Some games are bigger than others and United against Liverpool is big, especially when it’s the quarter-final of the FA Cup. We’re looking forward to it, because it’s a special game, absolutely.
“The fans see it as a very big game. They’re eager for us to win and they’ll be right behind us.
“There will be more Liverpool fans than for a league game, so they have to be really loud, support us so that we hear them.”