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Liverpool must deliver season first at Old Trafford as startling truth Man Utd clear

If there is to be one criticism of a Liverpool season that has them heading into the first weekend of April as Premier League leaders, it’s the absence of a statement result to date.

Throughout the top flight history, the champions are usually able to point towards at least one or two particularly seismic days that made all the difference in their pursuit of glory.

Ironically, Liverpool might not be able to lay such a claim in recent times given their 30-year wait for a domestic title in 2020 was achieved by a near faultless campaign that saw them win it by as many as 18 points, but victories at home to Manchester City and away at Leicester were particularly important back in 2019.

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More generally, the momentum needed to go and secure the biggest prizes in the game is often gathered from major triumphs at vital junctures. Manchester City’s dismantling of title rivals Arsenal 12 months ago went a long way towards their crowning, for example, while Pep Guardiola’s 2-1 success over Jurgen Klopp in January of 2019 at the Etihad was his biggest result of a campaign that saw them win out by a single point.

Further back, Chelsea’s 2-1 win at Manchester United in April of 2010 was the standout result for that season’s champions, while Arsenal’s victories at Old Trafford in both 1998 and 2002 are looked at in even more revered terms for their historical significance.

Which brings us neatly on to Liverpool’s current quest for glory and their impending visit to United on Sunday afternoon. Klopp’s men find themselves just eight games from a 20th league crown but the prospect of sending the manager off into the sunset with the most incredible crescendo imaginable is still some way from being realised.

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Games with Aston Villa, Everton and Tottenham all loom large for the current leaders but it is Sunday’s return to the scene of their most recent defeat that represents the biggest psychological hurdle.

Across his nine years as Reds boss, Klopp has won just twice at Old Trafford with one of those coming in a behind-closed-doors fixture three years ago. The other was the 5-0 hammering of October 2022, which, much like last year’s 7-0 demolition at Anfield, still no doubt feels like a fever dream for those of a United persuasion.

That Liverpool have only won seven times there in the Premier League era indicates how difficult it is for them at Old Trafford, regardless of the general state of both clubs across the last 32 years.

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Even in what has been, for the most part, a decade in the doldrums for United, Liverpool have often struggled; too often failing to grasp the nettle or seeing their noses bloodied by an inferior side outperforming their visitors on the day. In essence, the roles have largely been reversed from the 90s and 00s when it was United who were the better side, sometimes being caught cold by their rivals raising their game.

Klopp is acutely aware of the importance of Sunday’s game, saying there “aren’t a lot of alternatives” to coming away from Manchester with three huge points. That hasn’t happened too often in recent years and trepidation is understandable for those heading up the M62 this weekend.

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