Jamie Carragher has made his prediction for Sunday’s crunch Premier League clash between Liverpool and Manchester United.
United have the chance to finish the league double over Liverpool for the primary 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 filled with confidence given they’ve 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 each teams already poised to qualify for next season’s Champions League, Carragher insists that Sunday’s result could actually prove more necessary with regards to constructing positivity ahead of next season.
‘There’s probably not much riding on it when it comes to what the result means when it comes to league position and qualifying for the Champions League,’ Carragher told Metro.
‘But I believe it’s probably a giant game for each managers. I believe each sets of supporters wish to feel like they’ve got the best guy going into next season. I believe a win in a giant derby game against a giant rival all the time helps to feel factor across the club.
‘That’s probably what’s a bit bit at stake because there are a variety of Liverpool supporters who probably aren’t fully 100 per cent behind the Liverpool manager without delay.
‘And with Michael Carrick, probably some Manchester United fans will not be quite sure if he the best man to take them forward and win the largest trophies?
‘It’s just one game, but you’ll be able to’t help it. It does have an enduring impact and type of feel-good factor around these games in the event you can get the best results.’
Carragher’s former side can 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 could have a trick up his sleeve with regards to replacing Salah on the best wing.
‘Well, he could play Frimpong there, but he actually hasn’t played wingers really so much in his previous few months; he’s all the time played a really narrow system, so he may return to that,’ he added.
‘It’ll be interesting. He’s all the time got something up his sleeve, Arne Slot. He doesn’t do the identical thing every week like some teams do.’
And asked for a prediction, a rather unconvincing Carragher said: ‘Liverpool 2-1. I don’t fully imagine it, but I hope it.’
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