Football matches don’t get much more exciting than Manchester United vs. Liverpool. Talked about across the globe in the same breath as El Clasico, the Superclasico and the Milan Derby, when the two North West sides meet, the world stops to watch on, waiting for the guaranteed entertainment coming their way.
Granted, the pair’s meeting earlier this season – a 0-0 at Anfield – was not a traditionally thrilling match, but it was fascinating in the way Jose Mourinho approached the game with a defensive midset, while Jurgen Klopp shied away from his normal touchline gesticulation for the bulk of the 90 minutes.
We’re expecting a very different return clash this weekend, though, and have made this epic bout our Fixture in Focus. With that in mind, we thought it’d be interesting to ask Mancunian supporters to put their disdain for their Merseyside rivals aside and let us know which players they would like to snatch from a few miles down the M62.
We put that very question out to the masses earlier this week, and here are the THREE Kop stars most wanted at Old Trafford…
3) Roberto Firmino
In at number three we have Firmino. Not a universally popular player among Premier League fans, he sometimes frustrates with misplaced passes and anonymous performances, but he does put numbers on the board, even when not playing that well. Indeed, he’s notched six goals and three assists already this season, taking his tally in Premier League football to 16 and ten respectively, despite a slow start to life in England under Brendan Rodgers.
And it seems Man United fans have a little bit of appreciation for him, even though a ‘false nine’ would mean that Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Marcus Rashford would have to make way if this completely hypothetical transfer were to ever come to fruition.
2) Sadio Mane
In second-place we have a player that Man United, once upon a time, were very much interested in. In the summer of 2015 the Red Devils were reportedly on the trail of the then Southampton man, who was fresh from a stellar debut season in English football. Alas, they eventually opted to look elsewhere – Memphis Depay – and he would now be lining up against them at Old Trafford if not for the African Cup of Nations.
The Senegal international would offer Man United the sort of pace they lack out wide when Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial are not in the side, while also providing the sort of technique and eye for a pass that the likes of Juan Mata and Henrikh Mkhitaryan supply.
1) Philippe Coutinho
Could it be any other player? Even though Man United fans despise Liverpool Football Club and everything about it, the little Brazilian is seemingly relatively popular among them. And there’s no wonder why they appreciate him as a footballer, with the former Inter Milan star one of the finest creative attackers in the Premier League. He has an eye for the speculator, as he showed with a wonderful solo goal at Old Trafford in the Europa League last season.
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