Liverpool vs Manchester United
Tuesday 16th December 2018
Kick-off: 16:00 (GMT)
Venue: Anfield, Liverpool
Referee: Martin Atkinson
This particular discussion on this fixture has always fascinated me. There always those who say it's not a local rivalry & hence it's not a derby. If you consider Borussia Dortmund, Schalke is their local rival. But in recent years, Der Klassiker has been given a special note of importance with a special name despite not having a historical rivalry. Multiply this 'rivalry' and extend it into decades & decades back & add historical rivalry to it with the two most prestigious and successful clubs competing & it equates to Liverpool vs Manchester United, which is one of the biggest fixtures in world football, not just in the Premier League.
So, are all Derbies local? Alternatively, there are sources which refer to this fixtures as the North West Derby. See below link for reference.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liverpool_F.C.%E2%80%93Manchester_United_F.C._rivalryRegardless of what we think about calling this fixture (and the reverse one), this is one of the first fixtures that pundits, media & both clubs & sets of fans look up for in the Premier League fixtures list when it is announced every year.
What do we think of them?We all know where they stand this season, the controversies, the usual 'throwing under the bus', power fights within the club, & the manager's tactical weapon, bus parking, the luck of which had worn out by the end of last season.
This game still stands alone and we have a lot of work to do to win this game. Mourinho's focus is all on who makes the least mistake, so we're likely to have most of the ball, but he will look to give his team 'moments' where they can threaten us and try to keep us at bay for as long as possible.
I'm not going to talk about Mourinho's past associations with us like I did with Ancelotti, first there's been enough said and done about him, and I don't prefer giving him any more attention, that he seeks from everywhere.
Is the APLT looking tasty?With games coming thick and fast, and us at the Top of the League now, it's getting harder & harder to keep a steady mind, I'm feeling dizzy right now, so dizzy that I want to keep looking at our upward curve in the APLT. That's for another day though.
Oh look! Now I'm just rewriting lines from my Napoli preview. But no, that's not for another day. That's for right now. Right now. I've even removed the strike-through on the heading, see?
If we need to maintain a +8 number on the APLT for as long as possible, and least, by the end of this game, we need to win it & we need to prepare for this in a different way to Napoli game.
Another big Anfield presence?We gave a perfect atmosphere midweek against Napoli and we needed to as well to get through that challenge. We have another challenge, a different kind of challenge on the pitch, but what is required from Anfield in terms of atmosphere is the same. We still need a big big effort and this as much an important game as midweek, if not even more, in both fixture perspective as well the significance in maintaining a lead at the top of the table, albeit in a different competition.
Klopp recognized & praised the atmosphere against Napoli & I hope we give it all to recreate it and give our team more strength and scare the Mancs on the pitch away. Let Anfield be at its best we have ever been in the Premier League and I hope Klopp is again satisfied.
What's up at Manchester?The press conferences & news suggest placing the likes of Luke Shaw, Marcos Rojo, Chris Smalling, Diego Dalot, Matteo Darmian, Scott McTominay and Anthony Martial under the injuries/doubts list.
But I think, a few of those like Martial & Dalot etc. could be part of mind games from their camp? What do you think? There's a chance some of these may lineup on the field on Sunday.
Lineups, Formations, Tactics & my Birthday. Eh?Matip & Gomez are out and we're wafer thin at CB & RB with Alexander-Arnold being a doubt as well. As usual, you're free to play with the tactics board, but I've to talk about my birthday last week as well
The last two games at Anfield against these ended with a scoreline of 0-0 with 1 shot on target in each game from them. I'm not expecting it to be a lot different, so to break them and avoid mistakes, we need full concentration and effort from the lads. I'm sure Klopp will have them prepared.
It was a great way to end my birthday with a win over Napoli & I hope we end the week with my birthday in the same manner as well. Liverpool, please put a big cheer on all our faces. There was a bit of relief felt midweek, but it's time for me to pick the next finger & continue the nail biting.
On a final note, apologies for not being able to put this up earlier. I know there a few calls on other threads for this, but coincidence did a good job in getting me two Previews in a row
and fate played its part by breaking my internet for two days & my day job did not fail to have knives at my throat. So, there you go.
