Manchester United staged a typically dramatic comeback to beat Atalanta 3-2 from two goals down on home soil on Wednesday night.
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Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher believes that the momentum of Manchester United’s Champions League comeback, could fuel them to a triumph against unbeaten Liverpool at Old Trafford on Sunday. The Red Devils recently completed a dramatic comeback to defeat Atalanta 3-2 from two goals down on home soil. An electric atmosphere helped complete a stunning second-half turnaround, following a run of five defeats from their previous seven games.
“I could see Man United winning this game. I think certainly on the back of what happened on Wednesday night, the atmosphere will be fantastic, especially at the start of the game. Man United at home against Liverpool notoriously, going back 10 or 15 years, they’ve had Liverpool’s number in the fixture. Liverpool have found it really difficult to win at Old Trafford and going back a long time, even the great Liverpool teams, it’s always been a venue Liverpool have struggled at,” said Carragher in an interaction with the Essential Football Podcast as quoted by Sky Sports.
“Even in Jurgen Klopp’s time, I think he’s only won there once so it will always be a tough game for Liverpool no matter what the circumstances are or the quality of Man United. But there’s no doubt that going into the game, Liverpool are a better team. They’ve proven that over the last few years and at the start of this season and if Liverpool play well, that could be enough to win. But even if they do win this game, it will be very tight. Man United have got great players, they’re at home with a great atmosphere against a club who notoriously don’t do well in this venue,” he added.
If Liverpool win again on Sunday, it will represent their first back-to-back league victories at their arch enemies since 2002 under Gerard Houllier. Carragher believes the record needs to improve if they are to add to their 2019/20 Premier League crown.
“If Liverpool want to win the league, they’ll have to start winning games against the other so-called ‘big six’ or ‘top four’. This is their third opportunity so I think it would be a really big statement if Liverpool could go to Old Trafford and win for that reason. Whether last season gives the Liverpool players that bit of confidence to go to Old Trafford, but for me, it’s a completely different proposition and Liverpool have found it difficult historically really,” said Carragher.
“We had a little spell of winning there under Gerard Houllier, but there hasn’t been too much since that really. From Liverpool’s point of view, they’ll want to put in a good performance, but I think they’ve got to start winning at Old Trafford. This would be the third game Liverpool have played this season against a rival, and they haven’t won any of the other two. In some ways, they may feel better than Liverpool, if you’re 2-0 up and opposition come back to 2-2 and then win 3-2, there’s almost relief that you never threw it away. But with Man United, maybe it’s a different feeling slightly,” he added.
