Premier League leader Liverpool insist Sunday’s home fixture against Manchester United still carries massive importance despite their opponent’s uncharacteristically poor league showing so far this season.
While Liverpool (14-1-3, 45 points) enter the weekend six points clear of second-place Arsenal with a match in hand, United (6-9-4, 22 points) continue to struggle to put together consecutive good results. They reside in 14th place, closer to the relegation zone than the top four Champions League spots.
New manager Ruben Amorim began his United tenure with promising wins over Everton and Manchester City. Since then, he has seen his side lose four straight in all fixtures.
And with Liverpool’s first leg of a League Cup semifinal against Tottenham looming Wednesday, there were even suggestions first-year Liverpool boss Arne Slot might rotate some of his squad, a notion he immediately dismissed.
“It’s a big game,” insisted Slot, whose side also won 3-0 at Old Trafford on Sept. 1. “For me, I said it before the first fixture and one more time, they have much better players than the league table shows. It will take a while, maybe, for Ruben Amorim, but they will definitely go up, and they are much, much better than the league table shows.”
Liverpool are unbeaten in their last 15 matches in the league and have won three in a row while posting some of their best attacking performances. The Reds dismantled Tottenham 6-3 in London on Dec. 22 and then returned to the capital for a 5-0 demolition of West Ham last weekend.
At age 32, Mo Salah is continuing to produce what may be the best Premier League season of his career, registering 31 goal contributions (17 goals, 14 assists) before the midway point.
As for Man U, Amorim suggested his squad is in need of stronger guidance from its veterans amid a stretch in which the side has failed to score in three consecutive matches.
“If you want to be a top, top team you have to have leaders,” Amorim said. “We have that in the dressing room, but they have to step up. We need the guys that are more experienced to help the younger players.”
Amorim will welcome back captain Bruno Fernandes to the squad after he served a red card suspension in a 2-0 defeat to Newcastle last weekend.
Fernandes has four goals and five assists to lead his side in goal contributions but already has earned two red cards in league play. A third issued in a 3-0 loss to Tottenham was rescinded upon appeal.
–Field Level Media
