Liverpool midfielder Emre Can has named the things that the Reds will have to do on Saturday to beat Manchester United.
The Reds will host the Red Devils in their biggest game of the season so far. Forgot Arsenal or Manchester City, this is the real deal.
And for United, it’s definitely the biggest game they’ve played this campaign. After an opening seven games in which they’ve coasted through, Liverpool will be the toughest test of Jose Mourinho’s new team.
There is no doubt that they’re a good team, but the Old Trafford mob haven’t had to defend against Mohamed Salah, Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino.
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But that’s not the focus of Can, who wants the team to be snappy in defence and play the game on the front foot.
“We have to be hard in the tackles, we have to try to dominate the game and score the goals when we create chances,” Liverpoolfc.com reported that he said.
Manager Jurgen Klopp will be able to lay down a marker for his team and to the rest of the league with a win on Saturday.
Klopp has come in for criticism over a perceived lack of progression and improvement at Liverpool, but if he can engineer a victory over United that will melt away.
The club had a tough time before the international break, but Can believe team cohesion can be the way forward. “For everybody, it was not an easy time before the international break,” he continued.
“But we have to all stick together and try to give our best on the pitch – then we will come back to winning ways.”
It will also show that his team can challenge for the top four and beyond, which was to be an aim for the campaign.
To give him credit, the German has no worries about throwing youngsters into the side, which is refreshing given the hesitant nature of managers at top four clubs to do just that.
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And so if Klopp is given five years and time to nature talented youngsters into world class players, that will go some way to help him achieve the club’s aims.