This may be because the last two times these two managerial heavyweights have clashed, Jose Mourinho hasn’t done particularly well.
Rooney has lost his place for club and country and is set to be a substitute again at Anfield on Monday night for United’s Premier League trip to arch rivals Liverpool.
But, conversely, an ill-disciplined positional display from the Frenchman-as he was accused of against Manchester City earlier in the season-and Liverpool’s attacking players could be allowed the room they need to give their side the edge.
If there were more suitable candidates than Mourinho, United couldn’t take a backward step after the confirmation that Pep Guardiola was heading to Manchester City.
Liverpool welcome their fiercest enemy to Anfield on Monday evening, in what is the 25th league meeting between the two since the Premier League’s inception in 1992.
“Maybe this will be the biggest game I have played in. The goals can come from all over the park”, said Cole.
Right now Liverpool are the better team, but United arguably have the better big-game players, and in Ibrahimovic and Pogba they have two stars that could rise to the occasion. They’re on an excellent run, they’re virtually playing in a new stadium and they’ve got a manager anyone would want to play for.
Jurgen Klopp in Germany was free and available. Given a new role of defensive midfielder, the 26-year-old has thrived in the role providing great leadership with his actions as well as words. They’re one of the form teams, there’s no doubt about that.
“It’s a tough ask to go to Anfield at any time but when they’re cock-a-hoop and on a bit of a run it makes it more hard”.
Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United offers a list of higher-priced players and a club without a clear leader on the pitch or any pizzazz, often to the extent that Mourinho’s United often looks like Van Gaal’s United. He will be up against a top-class goalkeeper in de Gea, who is remembered at Anfield last season for making crucial saves either side of the halves before Wayne Rooney scored the victor in a 1-0 victory.
“You can hurt me but you can’t put me down”.
“Did he speak to me about it?”
You can be sure that neither Klopp nor Mourinho will be looking too much at Liverpool’s 1-0 defeat in this fixture last season.
Pallister himself knows the joys of scoring for United at Anfield having memorably grabbed two in a 3-1 win during the successful 1996-97 title run-in. Predict the score for this match and the rest of this round’s Premier League fixtures in our Predictor game. Maybe Liverpool are in a better position and maybe favourites, but it doesn’t matter.
As a club, they are always in search of a guru, an elder who has all the answers and can make sense of life’s mysteries, like the mystery of the 27 years they have waited for a league title.