5 reasons Liverpool will defeat Manchester United on Saturday
By David Gate
2. Less Predictable Liverpool
When Manchester United came to Anfield back in October we witnessed one of the most defensively minded teams we’ve seen all season. They were scared.
Man Utd had absolutely no intention of trying to beat us; only to hold on and hope Dejan Lovren or Alberto Moreno or Simon Mignolet did something dimwitted. Fortunately for Liverpool they did not. But not so fortunate was how successful United were at shutting down the Liverpool attack.
In particular they did a fantastic job at doubling up on Philippe Coutinho and minimizing his influence on the game. As Jurgen Klopp has pointed out this week; losing Coutinho has had the bonus of making Liverpool less predictable.
The Brazilian stood out as the Liverpool playmaker and so inevitably most attacks would go through him at some point – especially in games where teams sat deep. Now the ball is spread more evenly amongst the side.
Even when you can get a hold of Liverpool’s front trio that leaves plenty of room for players like Alex-Oxlade Chamberlain to exploit as Manchester City found out.
Mourinho will have to play with a touch more ambition at home and Liverpool will take full advantage with their potent attack.