PETALING JAYA: Former Liverpool skipper Steve McMahon predicts an easy win for Jurgen Klopp’s side ahead of the much anticipated clash with arch rivals Manchester United.
Despite strong sentiments from both sides, McMahon, who was part of arguably what was Liverpool’s greatest squad in the 1987/88 season said the scoreline will be “one or two nil” to Liverpool.
“I’m not saying this because I want Liverpool to win, but because I think they are the better side than United,” the Liverpool midfielder from 1985 to 1991 said, adding that the Reds will be too good for United at Anfield.
His justification is that he expects Liverpool to start the game at a fast pace, pressure the Red Devils and tip the scales in their favour in the first half hour and he doesn’t think that Man U have the players to cope with their aggression.
“One to watch in these types of games is the referee. If he can control the game well, it will be fantastic," he said when he dropped by to visit Liverpool fans at Menara Star Monday.
His statements will certainly stir up tension among United fans. But both sides can surely agree on one thing - that there is no other rivalry quite like this one in the English Premier League.
“I still believe that Manchester United and Liverpool games are the biggest in the world,” McMahon said, even when comparing them to the El Clasico clashes between Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona.
“It certainly will be a spectacle,” he said.
From his experience as a TV football pundit, games like tonight’s will draw somewhere between 800 million and 1.2 billion viewers globally, he said.
“It just shows you how big the game is globally.
The Liverpool legend also took questions from fans who could not resist asking him about his favourite and most memorable moments with the club.
On Liverpool in the current EPL season, he said, “We should not get carried away by the fact that Klopp is doing a great job and Liverpool are playing well at this point in time,” he said, adding that Liverpool is a long way away from winning the league.
After taking questions from fans, McMahon signed autographs and presented a signed jersey as part of a lucky draw to Star Media Group editorial department clerical assistant Shahrul Nizar Baharudin.
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