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We are now roughly t-minus 17 hours until kick off between Liverpool and Manchester United. One of the biggest matches of the season with 16 days of lead up making the waiting almost impossible to bear. Liverpool face their fiercest rivals at home after a two week international break and no one seems more acutely aware of that fact than captain Jordan Henderson. Alright, maybe the supporters, too, and Henderson is eager to use their support to the team’s advantage.
“I think the atmosphere will be unbelievable so I don’t think it will be one when you need to get yourself pumped up for it,” he said to the club website. “You’ll be dying to get out onto the pitch and when you are warming up you’ll start to feel that atmosphere starting to get lively.
“But for us as players it’s another Premier League game that we want three points in, that we want to have another good performance in, and we want to keep doing the things that we have been doing well and keep progressing as a team. That’s got to be the main focus.”
Lively is certainly a word to describe the legendary rivalry, although maybe not the right one that prompted both clubs to issue a joint statement warning supporters that were attending the match to be on their best behavior. Henderson would also do well to use caution as he’s currently sitting with four yellow cards for the season and a fifth would mean missing out on the next match - a fact he seems to wink at.
“You can get pumped up for games and sometimes you can cross the line very easily really. In big games when the adrenaline is pumping I think now and again you can cross the line, so it’s about making sure you are calm and using that in the right way.”
No match is easier to get riled up in than this one, as we’ve all seen (sorry for the painful reminder), and everyone will be ready and eager for a chance to prove themselves against the opposition. Manchester will be looking to upset the momentum of Liverpool’s progression while Liverpool will be happy to push their rivals further down the table. We can only hope it ends with three points and minimal injuries for our Reds.