The manager of Liverpool football club, Jurgen Klopp has declared that the club must beat second-placed Manchester United on Sunday to stand a chance of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League.
The embattled coach who noted the choking fixtures Manchester United have been subjected to (playing in Europe on Thursday and in the Premier League during the weekend), stressed that his team is “more than 100 percent” determined to beat Manchester United and win their other remaining Premier League games.
Liverpool will visit Old Trafford to play against Manchester United that are busy with Europa League football and challenging for the Premier League title. The Premier League game will kick off at 16:30 on Sunday, May 2 and it might decide the fate of both Liverpool and Manchester United.
If Liverpool win the match, the victory would help to keep their hope of making it into the top four alive, but if they don’t, it might be almost impossible to hope for a top-four finish. Liverpool are currently sitting on the 6th spot on the league table with 54 points in 33 games, four points below 4th placed Chelsea.
Unfortunately for Jurgen Klopp, the German tactician will go into the match against Manchester United without three of his best players – Virgil van Dijk, Jordan Henderson, Joel Matip, and Joe Gomez who are still trying to gain full fitness.
Though the players are started running, they have not started full training and will no be available for Liverpool on Sunday against United.
“Yes, he (Van Dijk) is running like Hendo, Joe, and Joel. Rehab always starts with straight-line running. Lots of things to come, a lot of steps before finally ready to join team training”, Klopp said.
— Virgil van Dijk (@VirgilvDijk) April 29, 2021
On the other hand, Manchester United still dreams of overtaking Manchester City on the Premier League table. United are currently second with 67 points in 33 games, 10 points below first-placed Manchester City.
United’s coach, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, has a possible 15 points to garner from the remaining 5 games but the club’s chance of winning the title is more in the hands of Manchester City than in United’s hands.
Based on the current form, Manchester United don’t look like a team that is ready to drop points. Recall that they defeated an Italian club, Roma, 6-2 in the first leg of the Europa League semi-final round. If United host Liverpool with such a form, it would be almost impossible for Jurgen Klopp and his boys to crack United’s squad on Sunday.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is focusing on spoiling the dream of Jurgen Klopp not on United’s fans planned protest
Meanwhile, as Manchester United players are trying to contend with Manchester City for the title and also try to win the Europa League, the fans of the club are still fighting against the management of Manchester United for signing up the club for the failed breakaway league, Europa Super League.
As of the time of publishing this report, some fans of the club are planning to stage a mass protest outside Old Trafford ahead of Manchester United league match against Liverpool.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says: “It’s important that the fans’ views are listened to and that we communicate better.
“My job is to focus on the football side and that we have the best possible team. I’ve been backed and had great support from the club and the owners and I’m sure I’ll get the backing again to go one step further.
“I’m so happy that all the clubs agreed this shouldn’t be the way of moving forward.
“When the protests are on, it is important they go in a good fashion and that we keep it peaceful.
“The players are focused on the game and nothing else. They have handled difficult situations before. It was a strange week before the Leeds game after the Super League announcement.
“But I’m not worried one second that our mind is not on the football. As you saw in the [Europa League] semi, the players are fully focused on performing.”
