“I LOVE football, I love the fuss we make of it, most of the time at least, and then it is like, ‘Liverpool vs United, I want to see it’. It has to be like that otherwise football would have absolutely no right to exist anymore. Again? Really? And how are

last week. “Yes, they play a better season than us so far but thank God that means absolutely nothing for the game on Sunday,” Klopp said.

The argument that form is irrelevant in such meetings has not always stood up to scrutiny. Last season’s twin thrashings were not anomalies but indicative of broader trends, of much that Liverpool were doing right and United wrong. If many have been taken aback by the turnaround Erik ten Hag has orchestrated, Klopp is not among them. Perhaps there is an inevitability to clubs of Liverpool and United’s magnitude rousing themselves from the doldrums, though that would be to downplay Klopp’s feat in inheriting a club in 10th place and making them champions of Europe and, for the first time in three decades, of England.

Now United are renascent. They are still more of a financial superpower than Liverpool but Klopp saw potential in the players Ten Hag was bequeathed, albeit in an underachieving team, and a

short-termism in the approach. He built for the future whereas the Ten Hag signings who are his first-choice pairing in midfield, Christian Eriksen and Casemiro, are both in their thirties. The Dane will miss the trip to Anfield but has been a catalyst. Casemiro scored in the Carabao Cup final.

“It is obviously not a team built for the next 20 years because the players they signed are for now but for now it is really good,” said Klopp. “Surprised? Probably not. Go through the team. How could they not be good? They don’t have one player where you think, ‘Woah, what is he doing there?’ They are really experienced, they have quality, and a new way to defend. Defensively [it is] a massive difference, properly man orientated and with the ball, just quality. It’s a good idea, but super experienced players came in like Eriksen and Casemiro. They were all over the world successful.”

The extra dimension is that Marcus

Rashford, in Klopp’s words, is in the form of his life. The Mancunian has 25 goals this season, the first against Liverpool. He has been a past scourge of the Merseysiders, with six goals against them. Klopp has long been a fan of Rashford as both player and person.

“It is difficult, I would say pretty much impossible, to be happy about something positive at Manchester United when you are the Liverpool manager. I am here for seven-and-a-half years, it’s not that I watch them and hope they win,” he said. “But I am really happy for Rashford. He had a difficult year last year and I knew this would change again and now he is playing incredible. His speed, technique, mix of everything. How calm he is in front of goal, he scores worldies, he scores the simple ones, he’s there, he puts his head in.”

Mohamed Salah has often been the player in the game. Now Klopp and Liverpool have to ensure it is not Rashford. — Independent (UK)