Do not underestimate Old Trafford, it can make even Liverpool greats freezeArsenal and Man City will be looking at their title rivals’ run-in hopeful that United and Everton again cause Jurgen Klopp’s side problems
JAMIE CARRAGHER5 April 2024 • 7:00am
There are two venues in world football which are the most challenging for a Liverpool player.
One is Old Trafford and the other is Goodison Park. Both trips are heading Jurgen Klopp’s way and will have a massive influence on whether his Anfield farewell ends with another league title.
Klopp has been in this position as Liverpool manager before. In 2019, Liverpool circled two away fixtures which they knew would be especially daunting in their head-to-head with Manchester City – away to Manchester United and Everton.
Klopp’s side won 10 of their last 12 games. The two draws were at Old Trafford and Goodison and City won the title by one point. The size of the fixtures and all they entailed was the biggest reason why those were the only games Liverpool failed to win.
The difference this time is 90 points could be enough to be champions – six wins and two draws could get Liverpool over the line.
But Arsenal and City will be looking at Liverpool’s remaining fixtures confident that they might slip up against their fiercest rivals again. They have no fear of United or Everton failing to give everything to keep Klopp off the top.
Klopp has played a combined 17 times away at United and Everton since becoming Liverpool’s manager. He has won four games, two apiece at either stadium. Of his 10 fixtures at Old Trafford, he has lost four.
It is often said about games of Sunday’s stature that it is a mistake to play the occasion rather than the team. I disagree.
When Liverpool play Manchester United, you must confront both otherwise you will not be ready for what might happen. To everyone connected to the clubs these games mean more.
That pressure allied to the quality within the opposition has always made the United trip especially demanding, even for the greatest Liverpool teams.
A key factor in what happened in the recent FA Cup game, when United beat Liverpool 4-3, is that nine of those who started or came off the bench were making their Old Trafford debut as Liverpool players.
New signings at Liverpool and United and will be forewarned by team-mates and staff to expect a game different to anything else they will experience during the season, but you have to live it to understand it. Time and again we see how often the challenge is too much for those playing at Old Trafford or Anfield for the first time in an away shirt.
Across the entirety of the 1980s, when Liverpool were for a long time the best side in Europe and finished outside of the top two just once, they enjoyed a solitary league victory at Old Trafford. They won there only once in the 1990s, too.
Those two wins in 20 years made me especially proud to be part of a side that reversed that trend in the early 2000s when we won three times at Old Trafford in four seasons. But that was an anomaly. There have been 12 Liverpool defeats and five league wins at Old Trafford in the past 20 years.
On the surface that looks like a poor run. Actually, a 25 per cent win rate at the home of your great rivals is a reasonable return, reflecting how tough it is to go there.
It is one of those stadiums where you feel the weight of history as soon as the game kicks off, sense a different vibe trying to get through the 90 minutes, and never feel comfortable, no matter what the score.
Usually the Anfield fixture is hyped up for the atmosphere, as though it is more difficult for United players going there than the other way around. I can assure you it works both ways.
Where Anfield is compressed and can feel like an oppressive arena for United players when the crowd is at its best, Old Trafford feels bigger – almost like Wembley – where there are so many spaces for United players to exploit. You could never switch off for fear the momentum of a game could change in an instant.
And when the tide turns the legs get heavier and it feels like you are helpless when the home players and fans smell blood. Old Trafford is one of those places where many players freeze.
It does not matter how terrible one side or the other is performing in the weeks going into this game. We have seen it enough times now to understand that at home Manchester United and Liverpool always have the capacity to find an extra yard of pace, more intensity for every tackle, and more determination to guarantee they leave nothing on the pitch. The home fans will always bring extra noise. I am sure United regulars who attended the FA Cup win will agree it felt like they were watching a different side in a different stadium to what they have witnessed most, if not all, this season.
When all those elements come together, there is a belief based on so many era-defining examples that no difficulty cannot be overcome.
Liverpool’s most recent defeat by United provoked bad memories for me. My first match at Old Trafford was an FA Cup tie in 1999 when we were 1-0 up in the 88th minute and lost 2-1. United would go on to win the Treble. We stood on the pitch shell-shocked wondering what just happened, and how we could go from a position where we thought victory was in our grasp to such desolation.
We were not as good as Klopp’s Liverpool, but I know his players will have felt the same way three weeks ago.
That is actually one of the positives for Klopp going into Sunday’s match. Because the memory of the Cup defeat is fresh, it makes it easier for him to warn his players not to make the same mistakes.
Last month’s FA Cup tie also reminded me of the famous Anfield game in 1994, when one of the great United sides under Mr. Ferguson went 3-0 up after 24 minutes but by the end were holding on for a 3-3 draw. Given the quality of the sides at that time, it defied football logic. It was proof – if any more is needed – what an iconic stadium amid deafening noise can do to a group of players who have underperformed against pretty much everyone else.
Before both games against United this season – the first was a 0-0 draw at Anfield – I cannot help but feel even some Liverpool fans fell into the trap of believing they would only have to beat an inconsistent and inferior United team rather than worry about the history and tradition of the match.
The same might apply when Liverpool go to Goodison later this month. That would be a grave mistake.
Since Klopp has been in England, Everton have been generally dreadful, but they have still been able to take points from Liverpool.
We speak a lot about ‘the title run-in’, but there is no definite starting point. For Manchester City and Arsenal, it felt like the final push got underway last week given the importance of their fixture against each other.
For Liverpool, the dash for the line truly starts at Old Trafford on Sunday.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2024/04/05/liverpool-manchester-united-old-trafford-goodison-everton/
