Overall I was very pleased with how we played in that match, yes our finishing was woeful, but the important point is that we created a heck of a lot of really good chances.

Last season, we might have only created one or two of those chances, so I am confident if we can create anything like as good chances on Monday, then our players will take a fair percentage of them.

That match was no way a true reflection of their abilities, it was just one of those crazy days, where nothing seemed to want to go in (apart from the Martial goal of course).



Ohh I hope that your husband comes back a happy chappy, unlike the people he is going with!

We really need to start to put together a winning run, so as good as a draw might be, to really stay on touch with City, Arsenal and Spurs, then a win is really needed.
We don't really want to have this five point gap increase too much, even at this very early stage.

I wondered why this sounded familiar...

Well at least I am consistent then (even if in the two posts I am talking about two separate clubs).

I know they are talking about two different clubs. My point was that you said similar just before we got tonked by Arsenal, not sure I'd be aiming for consistency if I'd been shown up like that.

One comment by me, doesn't mean that we will get beaten, easily or not, I certainly don't have that much power over these results!

How have I got "shown up"? I have given my honest opinion, not fact, just my opinion over their side, if you think what I have said is wrong, or you disagree with it, then fair enough, but I don't think I have got "shown up".

What are your opinions on the match? Do you think that we can go there and win?

You keep on doing it, if Manu lose, will you stop posting for the rest of the day on ds?, Liverpool will win 3-1.

Sigh. My point was that you previously got shown up by posting a ridiculously blinkered view of a rival's players and then we immediately got destroyed by them. To anyone else, that would be enough of a reason to think "maybe I'll think twice before claiming that I don't rate most of a rival team's attackers just before we play them" but I once again forgot who I was dealing with so I think I'll drop it before I get someone complaining at me.

I think we can win but a draw is most likely. Mourinho will likely try to avoid defeat so I wouldn't be surprised if we went with three in midifield; Carrick, Herrera and Pogba is my guess. I also think we need to be very careful as Liverpool's attack is excellent, Coutinho, Firmino and Mane are huge threats and they have other players like Lallana and Sturridge who can hurt us if we give them time.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Rooney make an appearance in this one. If it's one fixture he'll turn up in it's against Liverpool. No one in that team would want to beat Liverpool more, and he scored against us last season. Mourinho is also a huge advantage in this game because he's certainly no fan of Liverpool, and he has experience of beating us, or at least stopping us from winning. I think his main goal will be to not lose, and maybe nick a win, with the intention to get 3 points in the return fixture.

Our main weakness is set-pieces. Despite what some may believe, our defence isn't actually that bad. If our defence is bad, having only conceded two more than you, then it doesn't say much for your lot when you have a defensive manager like Mourinho. If you get a few corners then one's bound to go in at some point, especially with Zlatan there. Zlatan could be another weakness of ours, the big centre forwards have plagued us for years. I was made up when we signed Benteke because it stopped him scoring against us.

With him also being good with his feet it makes him even more dangerous. When that ball is bouncing around in the box from a corner there's a good chance a goal will come.

I think where we'd be most dangerous, and you most vulnerable, will be Mané vs your left back. Blind, as good as he's been, isn't a real LB. But more than that, he's not known for his pace, whereas Mané is. He'll need help with Mané. If it's Luke Shaw then he'll be coming back from injury, so could be vulnerable. A fully match-fit Luke Shaw might be a more even contest, but in his present state my money would be on Mané winning that battle.

I'm just glad our manager actually does rate Coutinho and Firmino. Coutinho's a big-game player, and he scored a wondergoal against you last season, and Firmino is in great form. Coutinho's just come back from playing two full games for Brazil, so he might be a little tired, but Firmino should be fresh since he didn't play the second game.

In any case it has the potential to be one of the best Liverpool vs Man United games in a while.

That's not the Mourinho way.

Rooney has had plenty of underwhelming games against both the blues and reds of Liverpool tbh regardless of whether he is up for it or not .He hasn't done anything of note to suggest he deserves a starting place in this one.

Nice of you to have faith, and there will only be a few hours left after the final whistle, so it is not as if not posting will be a while will it?

I think we will win, is there anything wrong in saying that??

Exactly and not the sort of game you want to start with out of form players. There is enough quality in midfield who are in form not to play him. Liverpool would destroy us for any mistakes in the middle of the park. Its definitely the game for Carrick, allow him to control the pace of the midfield and attack Liverpool's fragile defence.

Sneaky suspicion that itll be the wide play thatll be used by both teams. Each teams full backs are questionable, Milner and Valencia are not full backs to begin with. Ill happily take a draw from this.

Why do you think it is blinkered?
Am I not allowed a differing viewpoint on players to yourself or anyone else?
If we get beat or they play well, then fair enough, I have said that Coutinho, Firminho etc are all plating well at the moment, so of course that could continue in this upcoming match, that does not mean however that I think that they are top class players, for me Mane is their main threat, and the one player more than any other from their team that we should be worried about.

Also my viewpoint has no effect on if we will won or get beat, if my viewpoint was that powerful, then I would say that we would win every match five nill!

As for how we will set up, I think we will hopefully surprise them, and go at them from the get go, as I think they are fully expecting us to start off defensive, and would have worked on that basis.

Ahh nice to see that I am not the only one around here, that thinks Liverpool have a defence that is susceptible.

Exactly how I see it too but that's why I think Rooney will be on the bench. We have better options in midfield and Mourinho won't want to go for Pogba, Rooney and Ibrahimovic away from home, we'd get torn to shreds by your attack.

Agree about set pieces, might be tempting to put Blind in midfield so he can take the corners (has to be Shaw at LB).


As I said above, it was a mistake for me to bother bringing it up since nothing will ever change so I'm dropping it, please do the same to avoid disrupting the thread for everyone.

Yes nothing will change, as I have an opinion, as I guess you do as well, as do other posters, quite what is wrong with having an opinion, I don't know.

As for the match, no way will Rooney start, it would be a huge error, and would play right into their hands, and I cannot see José making that mistake.

We will I think (and hope), go for it from the off, so we will play people with pace like Lingard and Martial, to really go at their defence.
Rashford might be a key player, if he comes off of the bench, or even starts, as he is full of confidence at the moment.

As stated above, they are weak at set-pieces, and so Ibra, Bailly, Smalling and Pogba will have to be on their game, as if they are then we will cause them problems from that area.

A pretty fair summation, I think.

I've got a sneaky feeling that Ibrahimovic could be key. He's not scored a league goal for a few games now, and it's set up perfectly for him to be 'the man'.

Our defence is going to have to be right at it, and I'd absolutely start Carrick.

I'd snap your hand off for a point right now, although none of the 3 possible outcomes would surprise me too much.

The only thing that would surprise me is a nil nil draw.

And I don't want Rooney, Carrick, Miki or Shaw starting. Rooney I shouldn't have to explain, Carrick hasn't had enough game time IMO to be thrown into a big match like this and the same with Miki and Shaw.

This would be a match made for a fully-functioning Schneiderlin, but since he's a bit crap ATM, I'd have Fellani, Pogba And Herrera in the middle, Lingard, Martial and Zlatan to start up top (Rashford as sub for any of them) Blind, Valencia, Bailly and Smalling at the back.

I'd love us to play 4-4-2 to really get at their full-backs, but we just haven't got the players to cope with that against their pace on the counter. Good news that Llana might still be out though. He may have to sub Blind at some point unfortunately.....

Why would you be happy with a point??

We need to get as many points as possible, so as not to have the gap to City increase too much, so a win on Monday night is really imperative, even at this early stage.

Yes they are a good side, yes they are going through a bit of a good form at the moment, and yes it will be a very tough game, but we have the players to win this game, and we should really not be going into this with fear or trepidation.

Nice that we are on the same page regarding Ibrahimovic, as I said previously that he will be one of our most dangers players in this match, as he will relish this game, the bigger the game, the more he wants to win it, and they don't come any bigger than this one (as I would still put this rivalry ahead of the City one).


Both sides have potentially got a fair bit of pace, you worry about us not being able to cope with their fast players, but can they cope with Lingard, Martial, and Rashford, all of whom are pretty pacey in their own right??

I agree about not playing too many older players, like Carrick or Rooney, as we will need to fight pace with pace, and those players just don't have that anymore.

My team would be as follows:-

De Gea

Shaw
Bailly
Smalling
Valencia

Martial
Herrera
Pogba
Fellani
Lingard

Ibrahimovic

As that would mean a fair few taller players, and with set pieces being one of their main weaknesses, we could and should take advantage with that side.

Plus there is a fair bit of pace in that side, which should cause them problems.

For you, perhaps.

For the pair of us, and for the thread in general I think it is good that we sometimes agree on things from time to time.

First bit in bold. You have a fair blind spot when it comes to 'rating' your club compared to others.

As to the second bit, you could probably watch football 24 hours, 7 days a week, it wouldn't help your understanding.

I'm sure I remember reading that you once suggested Grant Holt was better than Suarez..


Well since you asked, yes.

You only really post in soundbites, and you parrot opinions from a certain well-known Man United supporters forum.

Sometimes, based on your posting history, I wonder why you even follow football, you don't seem to enjoy it much, nor do you seem to know much about it.

Filled with trepidation for Monday to be honest. Liverpool were flying before the international break and our form was patchy at best, and they are due a victory over us. Hopefully the break with have a negative effect on them and vice versa for United. Tricky period coming up though with Liverpool and Chelsea in the league, Fenerbahce in the EL and City in the EFL in quick succession.