Chris Sutton believes Manchester United will ‘take advantage’ of Liverpool’s weaknesses in midfield and defence when the two sides meet at Anfield on Sunday.
Erik ten Hag’s side head have gone unbeaten since the end of January and were crowned League Cup champions last weekend as well as beating West Ham 3-1 in the fifth round of the FA Cup on Wednesday night.
The Merseysiders, meanwhile, are struggling for consistency this season but have kept four consecutive Premier League clean sheets and the recent 2-0 defeat of Wolves will have lifted spirits amongst Jurgen Klopp’s squad heading into the huge clash against their bitter rivals.
“Manchester United were finding it tough against West Ham in the FA Cup on Wednesday but they changed the game when they brought on Casemiro and Marcus Rashford, and went up through the gears,” Sutton told BBC Sport.
“Liverpool don’t seem able to do that at the moment and the turnaround – for different reasons, good and bad – for both teams since the start of season has been unbelievable really.
“Jurgen Klopp’s side have kept a couple of clean sheets in a row now, against Crystal Palace and Wolves, which was important for them but it’s really not that big a deal because neither of those teams offer much in attack, do they?
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“Liverpool did the same last month when they beat Everton and 10-man Newcastle without conceding, but then they got hammered at home by Real Madrid.
“Put it this way, I don’t think it means Liverpool will keep Rashford out on Sunday. They get dominated in midfield and are vulnerable at the back, and United will take advantage of that. Liverpool 1-2 Manchester United.”
There’s no denying the fact that United are looking good this season but with the Anfield crowd behind us on Sunday there’s no reason why we can’t get a result.
We’re currently six points outside the top four with a game in hand on fourth-placed Spurs and it’s imperative that we keep the pressure on the teams above us heading into the business end of the season.
The Red Devils will travel to L4 confident of getting a result too, though.
A lot has been made of the performances of our midfielders this season and winning the battle in the middle of the park against the likes of Casemiro, Bruno Fernandes and Fred is vital if we’re to have any hope of picking up three points.
Fabinho has looked much better in recent weeks after a dismal start to the campaign while teenager Stefan Bajcetic has been a revelation in the engine room.
It’ll be interesting to see what XI Klopp opts for on Sunday but we need to get behind the lads to give us the best possible chance of picking up a positive result.
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