Even though Liverpool may have experienced a disastrous start to the 2012/13 campaign, Michael Carrick claims that Sunday’s clash against the Anfield outfit must be taken seriously. The former Tottenham midfielder says that form goes completely out of the window for such feisty encounters and the Red Devils must be on top form if they are to succeed against their bitter rivals.
It would be fair to say that there was plenty of optimism on Merseyside following Brendan Rodgers’ appointment over the summer, yet such hopes have quickly faded following a dreadful start to the new season. The Reds are still looking for their first top flight win of the new campaign and, in a statistic that is sure to fire up the United team, they could be sent crashing to the foot of the table should results go against them this weekend.
United on the other hand have started the season relatively productively and barring that shock defeat to Everton, they will be relatively happy with their current position. The club currently find themselves in 2nd place and should results go favourably, they could actually lead the division by the end of the weekend. All of the above means that there is already plenty at stake for both outfits ahead of Sunday’s encounter.
However, Carrick has stated that the form book will well and truly go out of the window when the teams take to the field. He has warned his teammates to issue extreme caution against the Reds, telling the media, “These games are a one-off – form goes out of the window. The atmosphere is that little bit more special and the fans are certainly up for it more. The fact that Liverpool haven’t had the results they wanted so far doesn’t really come into it – that’s not on our minds. It’s about us going there and doing the right things. We’re expecting Liverpool to bring their best game and we’ll have to bring our best game too to get a result.”