Liverpool and Manchester United renew hostilities for the second time in a week tomorrow.
Old Trafford plays host to a fourth-round FA Cup clash, seven days after Liverpool held the Premier League leaders to a 0-0 draw at Anfield.
And Jurgen Klopp’s side seem to be in a serious funk as of late.
The Reds lost 1-0 to Burnley at Anfield in midweek for their first home defeat in the Premier League for nearly four years.
And what’s worse is the fact that Liverpool have only scored once in their last five league outings – two defeats, three draws.
For whatever reason, Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mo Salah, a trio who have terrorised teams domestically and in the Champions League over the past four years, have gone off the boil in a big way.
And although Bruno Fernandes has admitted that the trio ‘are not playing well’, the Portuguese midfielder can empathise with the burden that is placed on their shoulders, having been United’s go-to-guy for magic over the past 12 months.
He said via his club’s official website: “When teams don’t win, everyone talks about that. When players don’t score, everyone talks about that. I feel that on me because I know the standard is high, because I arrived and I scored a lot of goals and make a lot of assists, and everyone is wanting goals and assists from me. It is the same – everyone expects goals from Salah, from Firmino and from Mane.
“They are not scoring in the last games and it starts feeling like ‘oh, they are not playing well’. They create, they play, but the other teams are playing better and, as I said before, they have more qualities to play.”
Despite struggling, you get the feeling that those three Liverpool players are never far away from producing a stunning, goal-laden performance and even though Klopp’s side can’t buy a goal right now, it doesn’t mean United can let their guard down.
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