Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Liverpool gained a massive advantage from the first leg after their 2-0 win at Anfield last Thursday they will now look to make sure that their advantage is not relinquished in the return leg at Old Trafford this Evening.
Manchester United have David De Gea to thank after his string of saves kept the scoreline respectable last week, because if it wasn’t for him it could have been an absolute mauling. It really was a night to forget for United who only managed to register 1 shot on target all night.
They were outfought and outclassed by Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool, at the risk of using a terrible cliche the home fans turn the Anfield ground into a fortress and created one of those ‘European nights’ which even though they played United it still had the air of something more than a Premier League tie.
Klopp’s side were quick out of the blocks in the 1st leg and went ahead midway through the first half thanks to a Daniel Sturridge spot kick. That was all Liverpool needed in terms of an impetus to win the game as they never looked troubled from there and the crowd was jubilant once Roberto Firmino had taken advantage of Michael Carrick’s blunder to double the lead going into this 2nd leg.
Liverpool will be the fresher of the two teams after not having a fixture at the Weekend while United will be coming off the back of a F.A. Cup draw with West Ham in which they had to thank Anthony Martial for keeping them in the competition and some chance of silverware.
Louis Van Gaal has a massive 3 days what with the fixture tonight and then the Manchester Derby on Sunday. One that he may think he can win what with the injury to Vincent Kompany who now looks like he’ll be out for at least a month.
That may also give Jurgen Klopp some more grounds for believe that even Liverpool aren’t out of the race for the Top 4. With only a 6 point gap between City and themselves, it will only take a couple of defeats for City starting on Sunday and all of a sudden Liverpool are in with a shout.
United simply can’t play as bad as they did in the 1st leg, otherwise Liverpool are going to have a very easy night. Will they even end up playing better with a more suited counter attacking setup in this away fixture for the Merseysiders.
The first goal of this game is going to dictate how the rest of the tie pans out. If United can score first we have a game on our hands, if Liverpool can get an away goal then it’s game over. I reckon Liverpool will progress but perhaps a 2-1 win to United on the night. For the neutral you should be in for a cracker.
