Former Liverpool winger Steve McManaman has made his prediction for the Reds’ crucial clash versus Manchester United on Sunday
Jurgen Klopp’s side have claimed 10 points from a possible 12 in their last four Premier League matches with Liverpool moving up to sixth in the table.
It has been a disappointing season for Liverpool but they now have a chance to keep the pressure on the top four if they can beat Man Utd at Anfield on Sunday.
The Red Devils have been in brilliant form under Erik ten Hag with Liverpool boss Klopp describing them as “a results machine” ahead of the match.
And McManaman reckons Liverpool will beat Man Utd because of home advantage, he told Betfred: “I think Liverpool will win and I only say that because they’re at home. I just don’t think they’ll lose at home. If Liverpool have a strong team out at Anfield, then I believe the fans will drag them home.
“When they played Chelsea a few weeks ago, before Chelsea were going through their really strange period, when Liverpool put their team out, people were claiming that it wasn’t strong enough and they still didn’t lose at home. I never believe that they will lose at Anfield in the Premier League because of the crowd and the magnitude of the game.
“I’m not being anti Manchester United or pro Liverpool, but when I see derbies or huge games such as this, I will always favour the home team when the teams are quite close because I know what the atmosphere is like and I know what it’ll be like during the game.”
There is speculation that Liverpool might look at signing a new centre-back in the summer transfer window with McManaman recommending RB Leipzig defender Josko Gvardiol.
McManaman added: “He’s young, he’s experienced with RB Leipzig and Croatia and he likes Liverpool doesn’t he? It’s easy to say that he would be the perfect defensive addition they can make this summer.
“But it all depends on what Liverpool have got because if they bring in another centre-half then they’ve got Ibrahima Konaté who’s young, they’ve got Virgil van Dijk, they’ve got Joël Matip and Joe Gomez, so somebody would have to leave for this move to happen.
“Is he a great centre-half? Yes. Is he young? Yes. He ticks all the right boxes but I just don’t know whether Liverpool will bring him in as they’d have to get rid of at least two centre-halves to keep everybody happy. He’s a wonderful player but I just don’t know about that one yet.”
When asked if Joel Matip could be a player to leave in the summer, McManaman continued: “Not necessarily because his relationship with Jürgen is great. They got him on a free, he’s great around the dressing room and he’s very well liked, so I don’t necessarily believe the club would be too open to selling him.
“You’d want to keep him around but it depends if Joël has told Jürgen that he wants to leave and if he has said that then I believe Liverpool would be happy to let him leave because he’s been a fantastic servant to the club.
“A sale wouldn’t make too much sense because you’re not going to get a lot of money for him. Financially it’s not going to make fantastic sense for Liverpool because he’s not a big earner, so you’re not going to save much. If he wanted to stay then you’d have him here.”
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