No Excuses! If Liverpool can’t beat mediocre Manchester United, they don’t deserve to win the Premier League
Truth be told, though, there can be no excuses this time around. Even a tiring Liverpool should easily beat a mediocre Manchester United.
TOP SIDE AT HOME
Klopp has been understandably keen to talk up the threat posed by United. For all their wonderful attributes, Liverpool have developed a nasty habit of starting slowly. Thanks to their remarkable resilience, they usually turn things around.
Indeed, Liverpool have won 26 points from losing positions in this season’s Premier League — only three teams have ever won more over the course of an entire campaign. They very nearly completed a comeback in the cup clash at Old Trafford too, but, on that occasion, they actually allowed United to produce a decisive fightback of their own.
Klopp is, thus, taking nothing for granted. “United is a top side playing at home, we all know that. So, we cannot just say, ‘Let’s do what we did from minute 15 to 70-something [in the quarter-final]’. Football is not that easy,” the German said. “On that level, with this opponent, in this stadium, we better play a really good football game if we want something there.”
DANGEROUS BUT FRAGILE
Klopp is right to be cautious, of course. United can indeed be a dangerous proposition in their own backyard. In fact, Erik ten Hag actually has a better win percentage at Old Trafford (71.7) than Sir Alex Ferguson (71.2). We’re obviously talking about a much smaller sample size but let’s not forget that it was United’s home form last season that got them back into the Champions League.
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