London (AFP)
Manchester United, excited by a late and valuable European victory, will face a difficult test against its eternal rival, Liverpool, led by its Egyptian star Mohamed Salah, next Sunday at Old Trafford at the top of the ninth stage of the English Premier League, while leaders Chelsea will struggle in the absence of their attacking duo to injury. .
After United were on the verge of a severe loss against Italy’s Atalanta in the third round of the Champions League group stage on Wednesday, he made up for his two-goal deficit in the first half to win an exciting 3-2 thanks to his Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored the killer goal.
This eased the burden a little on the shoulders of Norwegian coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who was under pressure to be sacked, after avoiding a fifth loss in eight matches in various competitions.
However, those pressures will return again when United meet their traditional opponent, Liverpool, the only team that has not yet lost in the league this season.
German coach Juergen Klopp’s team presents great levels, and on Tuesday achieved its third victory in the Champions League this season, to keep the full mark, with a 3-2 victory in the Spanish home of Atletico Madrid, thanks to its star Mohamed Salah, who scored two goals for him, raising his score to 12 goals in 11 games. In various competitions this season.
Liverpool occupies second place in the league with 18 points, one point behind leaders Chelsea and four ahead of Manchester United, the sixth, who failed to achieve any victory in their last three matches in the league (two defeats and a draw).
Solskjaer, who arrived as United coach in December 2018, is still looking for his first victory over Klopp in the “Premier League”, “three draws and two defeats”.
Days after admitting that United were shooting themselves in the face of “stupid” goals, French midfielder Paul Pogba saw the team’s exciting comeback against Atalanta bode well for the rest of the season.
“We showed a great personality and the character of this team and this club, it was a good result even though we didn’t start well, in the end we got the result we wanted, you could feel the faith and the positive energy on the field,” he said after the match.
Liverpool poses a strong threat to United’s shaken defense, having scored three or more goals in seven away games in various competitions this season.
Liverpool has not suffered any loss in various competitions since last April, in a series of 21 matches, the longest since 24 matches between January and May 1989.
Despite that, Klopp believes that the team is not yet at its best level. After the victory over Atletico, he said, “We do not have that absolute confidence in ourselves, frankly. We know our weaknesses and problems, but we try to ignore them sometimes.”
Liverpool is seeking to equal the record for the number of titles its arch-rival in the English Championship crowned 20 times, the last of which was in 2013 led by its legendary Scottish coach Sir Alex Ferguson, while the “Reds” lag behind with a single title after Klopp led him in 2020 to his nineteenth title, the first after the absence of 30 years.
On the other hand, Chelsea coach Thomas Tuchel hopes that his compatriot Kai Havertz and Callum Hudson-Odoi will rise to the desired level to compensate for the absence of the injured Belgian strikers Romelu Lukaku and German Timo Werner.
The two players went out in the first half of the “4-0” win against Sweden’s Malmo in the Champions League on Wednesday, after Lukaku suffered an ankle injury and Werner had a hamstring injury.
And Tuchel expected the duo’s absence from several matches, to turn attention to Haveritz and Hudson-Odoi when Norwich, who is looking for his first win this season, arrives at Stamford Bridge tomorrow.
The two players substituted for the injured against Malmo, and Haverts scored the third goal with a assist from Hudson-Audi. “It is always important that they prove what they have, so I always ask them to,” Tuchel said in this regard.
“Everyone is invited to join the race for a specific period on the field, and when the minutes are available to them, they must show that they are thirsty for it, and be decisive within the region.”
Manchester City, the defending champion and third-placed “17 points”, will visit Brighton tomorrow, “Saturday”, after their big 5-1 victory over Club Brugge in the middle of the week in the Champions League.
Tottenham, under the supervision of their Portuguese coach, Nuno Espirito Santo, is seeking to compensate for the continental disappointment when they lost the reserve team to Vitesse 0-1 in the group stage of the new continental championship “Conference League”.
After the dismissal of his coach, Steve Bruce, he will be waiting to see if Newcastle, the bottom runners-up, achieve their first win of the season when they visit Crystal Palace on Saturday.
.