Jurgen Klopp remains wary of the threat posed by Manchester United despite their miserable season, as Liverpool prepare to visit Old Trafford for Sunday’s huge FA Cup quarter-final.
Only behind Premier League leaders Arsenal on goal difference and into the last eight of the Europa League following a dominant 11-2 aggregate win over Sparta Prague, Liverpool remain on course to end Klopp’s final season in charge with four trophies.
They will face rivals United for a place in the FA Cup semi-finals, and they approach that tie as big favourites with the Red Devils languishing in sixth place in the Premier League table.
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However, United held out for a goalless draw when they visited Anfield in December, and Klopp says Liverpool cannot afford any complacency against Erik ten Hag’s under-fire side.
“I don’t know too much about their season, but I did see some really good games from them. They’ve also had injury problems, obviously,” Klopp said at Friday’s pre-match press conference.
“There’s a lot of quality there. I don’t know who is available but that obviously makes a difference. It’s always a tough place to go for us, it’s not easy.
“It means everything to both groups of fans. We’ll try to show that on the pitch with the work rate, but you never know.
“There are no guarantees, only opportunities. That’s how we see it and we’ll give it a really good try.”
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Liverpool fired 34 shots at Andre Onana’s goal in their last meeting with United, and though the Reds didn’t claim three points, Klopp believes that match was something of a turning point in their season.
“I don’t know at the moment whether we can play that same game again. It was a really good game,” Klopp said, reflecting on Liverpool’s last performance against United.
“I would call that game the start of when you really saw us reach the next level in our season.
“Before, it was difficult to judge us, we had so many things to deal with; red cards, always going 1-0 down… It was hard to know how good we actually were.
“That game was the first time I saw that was really us in the next gear.
“The result didn’t show that and I don’t expect the same game on Sunday obviously, as it’s a home game for them, but a lot of aspects of our game were really, really good.”
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Mohamed Salah has scored more goals in games between Liverpool and United (12) than any other player in the fixture’s history, and Klopp says the Egyptian is raring to go after recovering from a hamstring injury to start Thursday’s 6-1 home rout of Sparta.
“Mo is pure quality, ask him what it is he likes so much about playing Manchester United. He’s just an exceptional guy, a world-class player,” Klopp said.
“How we did without him was unbelievable, but it’s better to have him around. He can build up now with minutes, and he’s ready for Sunday.”
