Doing These Three Things Against Manchester United Could Earn 3 Points For Liverpool This Weekend

One of the grandest rivalries of the English football will take the center stage on Sunday as Liverpool will battle their fiercest adversaries Manchester United at Old Trafford in the Premier League. The importance of the clash cannot be stressed enough in the context of the title race, given how extremely tight it is at the top of the table.

Liverpool have had a difficult start to the new year, having won none of their games since the turn of the year. They were held to a 2-2 draw by Sunderland in the league before a goalless stalemate was ensured against lower league side Plymouth in the FA Cup in the past weekend. And the Reds were handed a 1-0 defeat by Southampton in the midweek EFL Cup semi-final clash, Liverpool’s only third defeat of the season.

In their previous encounter, earlier in the season at Anfield, both the teams shared the spoil, playing out a dull goalless draw. But Liverpool will want to bounce back from their poor start to the year and what better way to get going than a victory over their bitter most rivals. Ahead of the titanic clash, we give you three things that Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool should do to triumph against Jose Mourinho’s men:

Philippe Coutinho and Joel Matip to return

Philippe Coutinho made his much-awaited return from injury in the 1-0 loss to Southampton on Wednesday. The Brazilian playmaker has been out since November and has been missed by the Reds, given his excellent performances before the injury.

In Sadio Mane’s absence due to his involvement in the AFCON, Coutinho’s return becomes much more crucial for Klopp and he should look to play the former Inter Milan attacker from the kick-off itself.

More good news for the Kop, as it has been reported that Joel Matip has returned to full fitness and has begun full training ahead of the mega clash against United.

The Liverpool centre-half duo of Dejan Lovren and Ragnar Klavan haven’t really convinced much, and if Matip is fit, then he should be reinstated to the playing XI without any delay. The Cameroonian put in an excellent display the last time these two sides met, keeping Zlatan Ibrahimović quiet for the entire night.

If Liverpool are to make a statement at Old Trafford on Sunday, Coutinho and Matip will need to be involved as they can make the difference against United.

Play with No Pressure

A run of poor results has piled on the pressure on Klopp and Liverpool. And the tie against United couldn’t have come at a worse time for the Reds, given the amount of expectations and pressure that is on the team to get one over their rivals.

However, Liverpool comes into this game without the tag of favourites after having endured a poor week, combined with United’s excellent 9 game winning run in all competitions, and they should look to play without letting the recent dismal outings weigh on their minds. The pressure will be on Mourinho and United to get a result at home and Liverpool should look to exploit that rather than going into the game with the baggage from last week.

Shackle the United Midfield

While United have been excelling in all areas of the pitch in recent weeks, one of the most important reasons for their revival has been the brilliance of the midfield trio of Michael Carrick, Ander Herrera and Paul Pogba.

Carrick’s presence in the midfield allows Pogba to romp forward regularly and wreak havoc while Herrera performs the role of the enforcer hounding opponents relentlessly for the ball. However, if Liverpool manages to close down Carrick, restricting him to playing sideways more often than not, they can put a stranglehold on the home team. If that is achieved, Pogba will be forced to drop deeper a lot, which would reduce his threat to quite an extent.

Press the United midfield hard, cut down the angles, close down spaces and Liverpool will cut one of the Red Devils’ main supply line, which would serve a long way in their attempt to come up trumps at the Theatre of Dreams.