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PREMIER LEAGUE

Liverpool boss Jürgen Klopp “happy” with Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford’s “incredible” form

Red Devils attacker Rashford goes into Sunday’s game at Anfield as one of the most in-form players in the Premier League and Europe.

Update:
Red Devils attacker Rashford goes into Sunday’s game at Anfield as one of the most in-form players in the Premier League and Europe.
NEIL HALLEFE

It’s one of English – and indeed world – soccer’s biggest and fiercest rivalries; they’re not supposed to be nice to one another, are they? No two figures currently represent Liverpool and Manchester United more than Jürgen Klopp and Marcus Rashford, yet the former has been gushing with praise for the latter ahead of their upcoming Premier League meeting.

The two sides come face-to-face at Anfield on Sunday (kick-off at 11:30 a.m. ET) in what is a crucial fixture for both, albeit for different reasons. Recent seasons suggested that Liverpool would’ve been the more likely title challengers this term but they find themselves in sixth spot and with work to do to qualify for the 2023-24 Champions League.

After the first few games of the Premier League season, which saw the Red Devils lose at home to Brighton and be thumped by Brentford, few would have predicted that they’d have any chance of winning a first league title since 2013 in Erik Ten Hag’s first year at the club. Many would suggest that they don’t - they’re 11 points behind leaders Arsenal with a game in hand – although they have certainly exceeded expectations.

And it’s largely thanks to Rashford, who has netted 25 goals in 39 games in all competitions, including 14 in 24 Premier League matches and 17 since the Qatar 2022 World Cup.

Speaking to the press before Sunday’s clash, Klopp spoke of his admiration for the United striker, although he hinted that Liverpool fans might not be happy with him for doing so.

What did Liverpool boss Klopp say about Rashford?

“It’s impossible to be happy about something positive at Manchester Utd when you are Liverpool manager but I am really happy for Rashford.

“He had a very difficult last year when he was not performing at the level he can and I knew this would change, although sometimes you don’t have the time to change but he has changed it.

“He is playing incredibly. His technique, speed, a mix of everything. How calm he is in front of goal - he scores worldies, simple ones, headers.

“We played against world class players before and we have to defend collectively and he is not the only decisive player.”

Klopp praise for Ten Hag and United

On a roll with his praise, the German continued by talking up the job that Ten Hag had done at Old Trafford before seemingly realising what club he managed, where he was and what he was saying:

“They’ve done really well this year, and have turned into a results machine. They squeeze results out from very good performances and if it is not going well, they still squeeze results out. They are fully in the fight for winning the league”.

“But I couldn’t be less interested in what Manchester United are doing, I just respect it”.

You can follow all the action from Liverpool vs Manchester United (Sunday 5 March, kick-off at 11:30 a.m. ET) on AS USA.