Tanvir Juneja
Establishing the premise of this clash, it stands imperative for a certain Manchester United side that they must make a minimum 2-0 win happen at Old Trafford if they have hopes to push the Round of 16, second leg into extra-time at least. Knowing that if the Reds find the net as visitors even once, it becomes obvious that an away goal would push Louis Van Gaal’s men to score at least four to have any chance of progressing to the quarter-finals stage in chasing the coveted Europa League title. Klopp’s side managed to march ahead of the Red Devils giving them a two-goal deficit to overcome from the first leg. Much of the victory’s credit goes to Sturridge and Firmino who drove Liverpool home safe and sound at Anfield scoring at the 20th and the 73rd-minute mark respectively.
Anticipating the game to sway towards the Merseyside on aggregate, it still seems an achievable task for the Red Devils due to their amazing history of comebacks emerging out of adverse situations in a fashion nothing less than epic.
Here’s a potential Manchester United starting XI the manager is expected to pick:
Manchester United (4-2-3-1)
Starting XI: De Gea; Varela, Smalling, Blind, Rojo; Schneiderlin, Fellaini; Memphis, Mata, Lingard; Martial
Subs: Romero, Darmian, Herrera, Schweinsteiger, Carrick, Pereira, Rashford
Injured Absentees: Rooney, Shaw, Borthwick-Jackson, Jones, Young, Keane
Key Player(s): David De Gea, Mata, Martial
Most interestingly, the war of words has been extraordinary as a build-up to most of these two side’s match-ups in the recent past due to the big names in-charge of both the clubs. Currently, it lies 3-3 between Louis Van Gaal and Jurgen Klopp in a rivalry that began in Germany when they were in charge of Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund respectively. As it panned out, both earned two Bundesliga wins each then notched a further win each with United and Liverpool this season up until now.
The Best War of the Words:
Jurgen Klopp: “2-0 is a perfect result. We would have liked to have won by more clearly, but there is nothing to criticise. As a human being, I could really celebrate and say it is the best and greatest ever but I don’t want to set a limit for them, I don’t know how strong they can be. We are in a good position now and want to go to the next round but for this, we have to play like this again.” Source: Soccerlens
Juan Mata: “We need to have a good start on Thursday, with intensity. It’s like a final for us. We need a comeback and I’m sure that the atmosphere in Old Trafford will take us closer to that goal. I’m sure it’s possible.” Source: TheNational
Gary Pallister: “We can’t afford to concede and we need to show the intent to get at them. The atmosphere will be key – we need to build one inside the stadium and I’m sure we will because, whenever United play Liverpool, it’s always a great atmosphere. Hopefully we can do that and it will make Liverpool a bit nervous.” Source: Manchester United Official Site
Ander Herrera: “We always fight, we always have the desire to win. But every game is different. Liverpool are in very good form. But you can never say that we don’t want to win or fight. Everyone has to respect us on that issue. We want to fight always. We are very proud because we are Man United players. We want to make it a very difficult night for them. We are Manchester United and if they want to go to the quarter-finals they are going to have to fight a lot.” Source: Football365
Louis Van Gaal: “We always owe the fans a big result because the fans are paying to see that So we have to deliver. But in sport, you can lose and you can win. That you have to accept. We need their support also because their impact is big. The players and myself want to survive and go to the next round. That’s the pressure and the challenge. It’s a big challenge for the players and the fans.” Source: The Guardian
Although, the last leg was totally dominated by the Merseyside giants that were made to look less grand due to some world-class saves from De Gea, this one however, lies in the balance not-so-poised as Liverpool have the two-goal edge from Anfield. Also, Manchester United have won 9 of their last 10 home matches against Liverpool and have scored at least 3 goals in their last 3 home matches against Liverpool in all competitions.
The second leg of this Round of 16 tie promises to be yet another thriller that will go down in history for the billions of supporters of these two clubs across the globe as they intend to keep all things aside so as to better anticipate and enjoy this classic clash live from Old Trafford.
