The big game Liverpool vs Man.Utd

[liverpool]

Dirk Kuyt feels Liverpool have the confidence to beat Premiership leaders Manchester United. :thum:

The Reds have not beaten their arch-rivals in the league in almost three years and lost 2-0 at Old Trafford back in October.

That display was among Liverpool's worst of the season and Kuyt is aware of the need to show a big improvement in Saturday's return at Anfield.

But, buoyed by last week's UEFA Champions League win over Barcelona, the Dutch striker is relishing the chance to put the record straight.

"I think we owe a performance after Old Trafford," Kuyt told the Liverpool Echo.

"That was a disappointing time and we definitely want a better result at Anfield this time.

"It would be a great result for us if we could do it. We just need to go and approach the game as we've done in the last week.

"If you can beat a side like Barcelona with players of the quality of Messi and Ronaldinho, you know you can beat a lot of teams.

"We've come back from Barcelona and done a good job at the weekend with a win and a clean sheet, and now we want to beat United.

"We've beaten Chelsea at home and Barcelona away, so now we can have confidence to progress by beating Manchester United.

"It's one of the most important games you can play in the season, so no one can be thinking about Barcelona until after this game.

"There would be nothing better than beating United." :clapping:

 

[liverpool]

Steven Gerrard admits dropping 'silly points' has cost Liverpool the chance to win the Premiership.

The Reds welcome arch-rivals Manchester United to Anfield on Saturday, with Gerrard lamenting the fact it is not a critical game for his side's league position.

Liverpool currently languish 16 points behind the leaders and the midfielder knows exactly why his side are not in the title hunt.

"It's just a pity there's not as much riding on this game in terms of a Liverpool title challenge as we'd hoped," said Gerrard.

"We have to look at the silly points we dropped earlier in the season as a reason for that.

"That's why the gap is quite big. All we can do is keep going."

Gerrard could still lead Liverpool to European glory this season with the team in a strong position to advance to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League.

With a 2-1 lead from the first leg of their last 16 tie against Barcelona, the Reds skipper feels beating United at the weekend will set the club up perfectly for next week's return with the holders.

He added: "If we can give a big performance and get the right result against United, then it will give us all a big confidence booster for the Barcelona game.

"We've got a massive week coming up with United and Barca both coming to Anfield.

"But we need to take them one game at a time. It's exciting, but the important thing is getting the right results."