Many global football fans mark this fixture as one of the games of the Premier League season – the rivals have 38 league titles between them – but the two powers have struggled this campaign.
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The biggest problem facing Liverpool might be their own crippling injury concerns rather than United’s indifferent form which has seen them win twice in eight league matches.
“We needed the three points and to continue the start to this year, so it is a massive win for us”.
Ferguson – who retired from management in 2013 – has made no secret of his admiration for the German’s work while at Dortmund, previously expressing his fear that Klopp could make Liverpool better than United over the coming seasons.
Liverpool have won four times of the last seven encounters at Anfield drawing once and losing the other two, whilst Benteke has a good goalscoring record against United, scoring in the last three games against them, despite failing to win any of those games.
“When it is happening to Liverpool it can also happen to Manchester United but I cannot imagine that because we are going the right way, but maybe it shall take a longer time”.
Klopp, whose team are three points adrift of Van Gaal’s men, said yesterday: “I am not too close with the news about Manchester United in the last week”.
“In the circumstance of that game, you have to win”.
Liverpool were the more attacking side, but while they enjoyed the bulk of possession, the Reds didn’t threaten goalkeeper David De Gea all that much.
But Van Gaal repeated his assertion that his side is “in transition” and require patience rather than panic before they reclaim their nearly customary position at the top of the table.
Van Gaal has won all four of his matches against Liverpool, including a pre-season friendly in Miami in August 2014, and said he was hoping for more good fortune against the Reds, for whom he believes United have become a “ghost team”, or bogey side.
Van Gaal confirmed that Michael Carrick will miss the trip to Anfield, along with Antonio Valencia, Phil Jones (both ankle), Luke Shaw (leg) and Marcos Rojo (shoulder).
Liverpool, which had the majority of the play on its home pitch, remains in ninth spot with its fifth league defeat under Jurgen Klopp. “You can see it also in the faces of the players”.
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“We need to be aggressive but also under control, and that’s always hard because the passion to play these kind of games is very high”.
