Jamie Carragher has made his prediction for Sunday’s crunch Premier League clash between Liverpool and Manchester United.
United have the opportunity to complete the league double over Liverpool for the first time in a decade, having beaten the Reds 2-1 at Anfield under Ruben Amorim in October.
And the Red Devils should go into Sunday’s game full of confidence given they have already reeled off victories against Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea under interim head coach Michael Carrick.
Liverpool, meanwhile, will look to make it three league wins in a row and leapfrog their rivals into third.
But with both teams already poised to qualify for next season’s Champions League, Carragher insists that Sunday’s result could actually prove more important when it comes to building positivity ahead of next season.
‘There’s probably not much riding on it in terms of what the result means in terms of league position and qualifying for the Champions League,’ Carragher told Metro.
‘But I think it’s probably a big game for both managers. I think both sets of supporters want to feel like they’ve got the right guy going into next season. I think a win in a big derby game against a big rival always helps to feel a good factor around the club.
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‘That’s probably what’s a little bit at stake because there are a lot of Liverpool supporters who probably aren’t fully 100 per cent behind the Liverpool manager right now.
‘And with Michael Carrick, probably some Manchester United fans are not quite sure if he the right man to take them forward and win the biggest trophies?
‘It’s only one game, but you can’t help it. It does have a lasting impact and sort of feel-good factor around these games if you can get the right results.’
Carragher’s former side will have to travel to Old Trafford without Mohamed Salah after the Egyptian forward picked up an injury last weekend against Crystal Palace.
And Carragher believes Arne Slot may have a trick up his sleeve when it comes to replacing Salah on the right wing.
‘Well, he could play Frimpong there, but he actually hasn’t played wingers really a lot in his last few months; he’s always played a very narrow system, so he may go back to that,’ he added.
‘It’ll be interesting. He’s always got something up his sleeve, Arne Slot. He doesn’t do the same thing every week like some teams do.’
And asked for a prediction, a slightly unconvincing Carragher said: ‘Liverpool 2-1. I don’t fully believe it, but I hope it.’
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