Klopp vows Liverpool will make most of Anfield advantage in Man Utd clash

Jurgen Klopp warned the Anfield factor will be “massive” as he urged Liverpool to set the tempo of Sunday’s clash with Manchester United.

Liverpool had to come from behind to draw 1-1 at Old Trafford in October, spared defeat by Adam Lallana’s late goal after Marcus Rashford fired United ahead.

United set up to counter-attack on that occasion, despite having home advantage, and their manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer this week said his team had “found a nice way of playing” against Liverpool.

Those words could come back to haunt the Norwegian in the Premier League this weekend.

“Maybe they’ve found a specific way to play against Liverpool, but the difference between playing at Old Trafford and playing at Anfield is massive and we want to show that as well,” Klopp said.

Rather than worry about teams ‘parking the bus’, Klopp’s new mission is to stop the train – aware United’s attackers can break at electric pace, just as they did to stunning effect in the derby against Manchester City in December.

“This game asks us for perfection. If you lose the ball at the wrong time, the train starts going and that’s what is clear, but it’s about us to make sure it will not happen,” Klopp added.

The United draw remains the only game in which runaway leaders Liverpool have dropped points in the Premier League this season.

.@_fabinhotavares and Joel Matip are on course to be available for our clash with @ManUtd on Sunday.

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) January 17, 2020

Klopp again pointed out his surprise at United’s tactics in that previous meeting, and suggested he had no regrets over his comments about their fierce rivals’ defensive approach.

“It’s strange when you play against a high, high quality team, which is what United still is, and they played the way they play,” Klopp said.

“We had it with Tottenham. After 70 minutes I think we had around 80 per cent possession. That’s not normal. On the other hand, the counter-attacks are of the highest level in the world, that’s for Tottenham and Man United for sure as well.

“I’m not saying they only counter-attack, but that’s a main thing for them to do. If people want to see that as criticism, I cannot change that, but it’s not, it’s just a description of the situation.”

Klopp said Fabinho and Joel Matip are fit to return to Liverpool’s squad for the game after several months on the sidelines with their respective ankle and knee injuries, but Dejan Lovren will not resume full training until next week.