3 reasons why Manchester United can't be written off against Liverpool

Diogo Dalot and former teammate, David De Gea. (Photo Credit: Imago)

3 reasons why Manchester United can't be written off against Liverpool

Izuchukwu Akawor 02:18 - 16.12.2023

A look at what Jurgen Klopp had to say about the crunch Premier League clash between Liverpool and Manchester United.

Premier League arch-rivals Liverpool and Manchester United will go head-to-head in the game of the weekend on Sunday.

Liverpool will host Manchester United, who are looking to put behind them that terrible performance and result against Bournemouth on their last outing at home.

Liverpool vs Manchester United: Brief

But the Red Devils meet an in-form Liverpool side who are at the top of the standings and go into the encounter 10 points above their visitors.

The last time these two met, it ended in a historic 7-0 win in favour of the Merseysiders and many believe a similar result is on the cards this Sunday when both sides clash again at Anfield. 

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp believes United can surprise everyone on Sunday. (Photo Credit: Imago)

But here are 3 reasons why Erik Ten Hag’s Devils should not be written off just yet despite their poor form, according to Jurgen Klopp via The Athletic.

Form Doesn’t Mean Everything

Despite what has been a tough week for Manchester United, including that shocking capitulation against the Cherries at home and premature exit from Europe, Liverpool's manager believes form will not mean much in this clash. 

Erik Ten Hag, Premier League manager of the month (Colorsport)

In his defence, the German highlighted the recent PL awards swept by the Red Devils and the form that led to them as a sign of the visitors having the potential to bounce back.

I don’t follow United closely enough to know exactly what the problem is there, but I saw Erik ten Hag was manager of the month last month. I saw they were the team in form so how can it be all wrong? I just don’t understand it.

Don’t Underestimate United

Liverpool is wary of United’s threat per Klopp, who is not a fan of how pundits and journalists have analysed United’s displays.

Erik ten Hag, Manchester United manager || Image credit: Imago

The Liverpool boss is concerned about media narratives around United which have suggested that Ten Hag’s side is weak. 

However, the former Borussia Dortmund coach believes such narratives could spur the Red Devils on against their bitter rivals and he doesn’t like that.

“I never like when the headlines are about United not being great before we play because it’s like, ‘Okay, then this is the game where they can put everything right’,” Klopp said.

var widgetLoaderConfig = widgetLoaderConfig || { CDN_URL: 'https://widgets.sportal365.com', APP_LINK: 'desktop', API_URL: 'https://africa.football.api.sportal365.com/', API_KEY: '2f852b4de2f3a5cf3188e74b33087bb4:2c18422f8e826a7d11aeed52edb2449e', LANG: 'en', REQUEST_INTERVAL: 30, ENABLE_BET_SLIP: false, AUTHOR: false, THEME: "light", TOURNAMENT_ORDER: "pulse_nigeria", LINK_OPTIONS_V2: { 'player' : { 'url': '/football/player/{playerId}' }, 'team' : { 'url': '/football/{teamId}' }, 'tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}' }, 'match': { 'url' : '/football/match/{matchId}', 'sort': { 'criteria': 'alphabetically', 'direction': 'asc' } }, 'configuration': { 'newWindow': false }, 'standings_tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}/standings' } } }; if (!document.querySelector('script[src="https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js"]')) { window.setTimeout(function () { let scriptCss = document.createElement('link'); scriptCss.href = 'https://www.pulsesports.ug/css/sport-widgets.css?v=1668785443'; scriptCss.rel = 'stylesheet'; scriptCss.type = 'text/css'; document.body.appendChild(scriptCss); let scriptTag = document.createElement('script'); scriptTag.src = 'https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js'; scriptTag.defer = true; scriptTag.onload = function () { window.setTimeout(function () { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }, 200); }; document.head.appendChild(scriptTag); }, 0); } else { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }

Klopp dismisses ‘Freak’ 7-0

The last time these two met, a Mohamed Salah-inspired display saw the hosts put seven goals past the helpless United team.

Liverpool players celebrate after 7-0 win against Manchester United in the Premier League

But Klopp won’t be drawn to that result as he believes it was a freak performance and result in the end. He believes it is a result that won’t happen again and has asked every to look beyond that game as it didn’t reflect United’s capabilities. 

We knew that day that the 7-0 was a freak result that happens once in a lifetime. If it helps anybody for the next game then it is the team who lost 7-0, not the team who won 7-0.

Related content