The Premier League Owl
Play the opponent, not the occasion
It’s a difficult day to go to Anfield, for very obvious reasons. Behind all the ceremony and emotion though, there’s a football game to win. United are better than Liverpool, end of story. If Sir Alex Ferguson’s side turn up at Anfield, and perform as they should, then the 9/5 on them to win is extremely generous. Ferguson’s last words to his side as they leave the dressing room? Play with no emotion, keep eleven players on the pitch, and pick off the opposition as they run out of ideas. The hosts will be very nervous heading into this fixture, United need to take advantage of that.
Play through Shinji Kagawa
Notice the influence that Santi Cazorla had at Anfield when Arsenal unpicked Liverpool – Kagawa can play that role for United today. Without Lucas Leiva, Brendan Rodgers’ side lack a defensive balance in their side, and so are deeply susceptible to the kind of attacking guile which the Japanese international possesses. Today, Liverpool will line-up with Joe Allen, Jonjo Shelvey, and Steven Gerrard in their midfield – which emphasises the point, there’s no natural ball-winner and this will be the battle ground within which the game is won.
Whip balls in on Jose Reina
No goalkeeper has had a bigger drop-off in form in the Premier League than Liverpool’s number one. When you make as many errors as Reina has recently, you can’t help but be affected mentally by it – he’s a liability at the moment. United need to focus on asking as many question of him as possible today, in the likelihood that he will at some point cough-up an error. Attacking free-kicks, corners…don’t be surprised if United nick a goal from a set-piece as a result of poor decision making from the Spaniard.
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