Liverpool will host rivals Manchester United at Anfield on Saturday. We are going to beat them and here are the 5 reasons why:
Manchester United are joint top of the league. They have not lost this season and their draw at Stoke is the only blemish on their record in the first ten games of the season. Liverpool have one win in seven games. We are a liability in defense and our attack has hit a barren spell.
Surely United are going to win this one? Wrong.
Liverpool have good to reason to think they have more than a chance on Saturday. They can reasonably expect to perform well and win. Here are the 5 reasons why Liverpool will beat Manchester United this week:
1. Klopp has Mourinho’s number
There is nothing in the Manchester United side to be afraid of. Who are you scared to face? Rashford, Martial, Mkhitaryan? All good players but they don’t make you nervous like Eden Hazard, Sergio Aguero or Harry Kane does. And I’m not worried about Lukaku either. More about that later. David de Gea is the only United player capable of ruining my day on his own.
My concern is that this now a typical Jose Mourinho side; strong, athletic and built to hold on to a one-nil lead. The Portuguese manager is a master at grinding out results in these kind of games and picking on the also-rans of the league to mount a title challenge. That is not a criticism, I wouldn’t mind some of that cold minded ruthlessness at Anfield.
However, Jürgen Klopp has fantastic record against Mourinho. Three wins, three draws and one loss (to Real Madrid while at Dortmund). He has yet to lose to him as Liverpool manager.
2. Lukaku Blues
How are we going to stop Lukaku? He’s on fire! He’s going to feast off our center backs! Nah.
Romelu Lukaku has only managed one goal against Liverpool in last 7 times he’s faced us. That goal came in the 1-1 draw with Everton that was Brendan Rodger’s last game in charge. He has not scored against a Klopp led Liverpool.
Because we concede a lot of headers at set pieces it is easy to see Lukaku and be nervous but we shouldn’t. We actually do quite well against tall strong strikers. It is the Agueros and Vardys of this world that tear us a new one. Marking players like Lukaku is actually one of the few things Dejan Lovren does very well
Before our match with Burnley everyone was worrying about how would we handle Chris Wood. He is a unit. We wrapped him up all game. ‘But that was Burnley’ I hear you say. They actually play in pretty similar way. Burnley are the Aldi Manchester United. Or perhaps Manchester United are the Waitrose Burnley.
I’m not gonna lose sleep over Romelu Lukaku.
3. Untested United
They have played no one. At least no one who is good at football. The list in the Premier League reads: West Ham; Swansea; Leicester; Stoke; Everton; Southampton & Crystal Palace. That is seven of the bottom nine teams. The two highest ranked teams – Southampton and Stoke – are at the heady heights of 12th and 13th in the Premier League. They couldn’t beat Stoke and only squeaked a one-nil victory against an anaemic Southampton.
What about the Champions League or League cup? They’ve faced the might of Basel, CSKA Moscow and Burton Albion. Now to be fair, they have beaten almost all of these teams. I’m not sure Liverpool could have said the same. However, we do not really know how good they are despite their impressive record.
They have played one good team this year; Real Madrid in the European Super Cup final. They gotten soundly beaten 2-1. Victor Lindelof and Ander Herrera were so poor that day they have yet to see much Premier League action this season. The score line did not reflect how badly Manchester United were beaten.
We are not Real Madrid but we are a lot better than anyone else they’ve faced since. Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Philippe Coutinho are going to be the best three players they’ve come up against since that final. Let’s see how good they really are.
4. Record Against the Top Clubs
We trot out this stat every time we play a top 6 side. Our record under Klopp is fantastic. The loss against Man City last month is the only loss. While that record is not a deflector shield of criticism it is cause for genuine hope.
The last game at Anfield we played against a ‘top 6’ club was the 4-0 mauling of Arsenal. Make no mistake, United are better than Arsenal, but the place will be pumping on Saturday and if we get an early goal they will have to abandon their game plan.
The worry is that our attack is not taking it’s chances and so we may not be able to control the game. However, the problem with our forwards is not talent or ability. It is confidence. Liverpool have shown time and again under Klopp they have the confidence to beat the best teams.
https://twitter.com/Squawka/status/905830773772640257
The manager always has us ready for the big boys. It suits his style of management and his system. The real problem is generating that kind of confidence and energy when we play Watford or Burnley. I am not worried about the Reds being ready to go on Saturday.
5. They Have No Bus To Park
We all know what Mourinho will want to do. He will want to try and win the physical matchup and set his team up to defend with the hope of a goals on the break or at a set piece. I’m sure that is what they will try to do. I just don’t think they have the players to do it.
They will be missing Paul Pogba and probably Marouane ‘Elbows’ Fellaini. That is two of their physically imposing midfield three. Nemanja Matic is still a unit and player that will do everything to protest his defense but he won’t get much help from Herrera, Carrick or Mata. Coutinho will certainly dominate possession against the weakened United midfield.
The United back four has been in good form this season; only conceding two goals in the league – both against Stoke. Yet when I look at their personnel I only see Eric Bailly who I think can matchup with our forwards.
Phil Jones and Matteo Darmian against Salah? Yes please. Antonio Valencia against Sadio Mane? I’ll take it.
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If we score an early goal I genuinely think this whole game could open up for us. We will slaughter them on the break if we get the opportunity.