[ad_1]
Jurgen Klopp's men can score three points early on Sunday afternoon, but the Reds have almost always battled the home of their big rivals
So, who's really at the top of the Premier League table?
We'll know it Sunday night, after Liverpool finishes their 27th Premier League game of the season.
This one is looming on the horizon for weeks, a trip to the east of the Lancs up to the house of their most ferocious rivals. Manchester United, rejuvenated under the command of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, is waiting for Jurgen Klopp striker in the hope of seriously breaking the Reds title hope.
Publisher's choice
It's still an important match when Liverpool visits Old Trafford, of course, but this one has extra meaning. "Huge," said Andy Robertson on Tuesday. Gini Wijnaldum, smiling, said that he "was already looking forward to it".
Definition of the season? Not quite, but what happens this weekend could tell us a lot about what needs to happen here in May.
The defeat would leave Klopp's men second, behind Manchester City on goal difference with 11 games to play. It is not impossible work, far from it, but nevertheless discouraging.
After watching Pep Guardiola's champions bet on gasoline in recent weeks, getting "right" in first place would be a blow for the Merseysiders, who could have been seven points off three weeks ago.
This is of course the worst scenario. Win and Liverpool go three net, while simultaneously removing, at least on paper, their biggest remaining match. At what point will the sky be more blue to look around Anfield if United can be beaten?
A big ask. Klopp has visited Old Trafford three times and has not won yet. A draw in the Europa League in 2016 led Liverpool to the quarterfinals. The record of the Reds shows the magnitude of the task they face.
Even as the country's dominant force in the 1980s, travel to United has rarely been successful. Liverpool had won only once in that decade, a 1-0 win in April 1982, the rest consisting of narrow losses, 1-1 draws and a Russell Beardsmore inspired bombardment on New Year's Day 1989 .
The 1990s began with John Barnes, who won the match 2-1 in front of Stretford End. The team of Kenny Dalglish will be crowned champion two months later, its 18th title. United, at that time, was stuck on seven goals while Alex Ferguson wanted to win this first trophy to build his reign.
We know what has happened since, of course. Liverpool's nightmarish wait for No. 19 continues, as their struggles at Old Trafford drag on. Since the double of Barnes, they won only five times in 33 visits.
The fact that each of these victories is so memorable tells you a lot about the decline of Liverpool; Danny Murphy scored a hat-trick of match winners between 2000 and 2004, Fernando Torres and Andrea Dossena (now there's a double act for you!) Won a 4-1 win in 2009, while there's Five-year-old Brendan Rodgers' team ran riot against a United team in ruins under the command of David Moyes.
"It was their pitch, mostly their supporters, but it was our ball," said Rodgers after a win that allowed Liverpool to rank second in the table.
His team, led by Steven Gerrard and inspired by Luis Suarez, ultimately failed in the title race, but that's the win at Old Trafford that confirmed his presence.
Gary Neville said his victory at Anfield – which United has done a dozen times in the Premier League era – "made you feel like you deserved to be a champion".
No matter the gap between the two camps – and that was sometimes incredibly big for Liverpudlians – it will always be an badet to confirm the clbad and expose the flaws.
Think of the champions of the past of the Premier League and the important results at Old Trafford often stand out. Arsenal won the title in 2002 and achieved critical results in 1998 and 2004. City surprised the world with a 6-1 win in 2011 and beat the Moyes 3-0 team in 2014, while the record holder Guardiola had won last season.
Carlo Ancelotti's Chelsea, double winner in 2009/10, had some more significant victories than a Didier Drogba-inspired victory at Old Trafford in early April, while the incredible triumph of Leicester in 2016 was almost badured by a draw with an exhausted side battle.
A result for Liverpool on Sunday would not only bring them back to the top of the table, it would end the idea, perpetuated after two draws, that it is a team that falters, a team that feels the pressure of a "title-run-in" that seemed to start in November. Troubling teams do not win games like this.
The article continues below
City, which will visit United later in the season, will certainly count on a favor from its neighbors this weekend.
Guardiola's squad must play the Carabao Cup final against Chelsea on Sunday, but you can be sure of one thing. those of Wembley will know exactly what is happening at Old Trafford.
It's a big weekend, in more ways than one.
Source link
