Manchester United travel to Liverpool on Sunday afternoon with a ridiculously long injury list and memories of the embarrassing 7-0 defeat in this fixture last season.
Speaking to the press ahead of the game, Erik ten Hag has suggested that his team have learnt from that performance and will prove that at the weekend.
I think everyone knows we have to be highly motivated when you go to Anfield. It is a great place to go and you know it is going to be tough. I think that is something which every top footballer wants, to have that challenge. You have to look forward and of course, last year, we have it in our memory, but you have to take the benefit from it. Learn from it. On Sunday, we can prove that.
It was a bad experience. But it is not similar, you start again on null. Last season, in the first half, I think we played very decent and we had got hammered just after half-time. Then we collapsed. Yes, that can’t happen, but that was last year. It was a different team with different players, for a part at least. We will not ignore it but we go there and we will be confident and I know my players will be confident to go there from the start to the end. We have to fight there, we have to challenge there and you go there with the idea. So we will prepare them with the idea to win there.
Marcus Rashford and Luke Shaw will return to the squad but Harry Maguire and Anthony Martial are among the missing players. There couldn’t be a better time for Rasmus Hojlund to claim his first Premier League.
He has scored at the highest level. Champions League, five goals, is massive for the performance of a young player. I don’t think there are so many young players who can do that, he has the potential. We recognise that and we are sure he will get there. He will go and score in the Premier League, I see how he is working in training. We have to work on our attacking game and he has had his opportunities. The team have brought him to the right place, but it can always be better. As you say, he has not scored so far in the Premier League. So we have to work on that.
