Arne Slot warns Liverpool to expect different challenge against Man United

By Rebecca Johnson, PA

Liverpool manager Arne Slot is anticipating a different challenge when his side face Manchester United for the second time in a month.

The sides met in a pre-season friendly in South Carolina at the beginning of August, where the Reds earned a 3-0 victory over United.

The bitter rivals clash again in their third match of the Premier League campaign and Slot is expecting a completely different atmosphere at Old Trafford on Sunday.

Slot said: “It’s going to be different, when we played them in the States I think it was 50-50 because of the fans.

“The atmosphere will be completely different because I’m not expecting half of the stadium cheering for us or that they are favour for us.

“That’s going to be different, but what makes it more different is both teams have a lot of different players on the pitch.

“So you can’t compare that game with the game on Sunday.”

Slot has overseen two straight victories over Ipswich and Brentford, but they now face a tough task on Sunday.

Slot has taken charge of clashes between fierce rivals in the past, overseeing Feyenoord’s meetings with Ajax during his time in Rotterdam, and he knows the importance of games against United ahead of his first trip to Old Trafford as Liverpool boss.

“If you start to work at Liverpool, everyone who comes in knows how important the game against United is,” Slot said.

“It’s similar to when you work at Feyenoord how big the game against Ajax is.

“People tell you, but it’s not really necessary because if you follow the game of football, which I do for a long time, you know the importance of Liverpool against United.

“One of the most important things is preparing (players) for what they can expect.

“What they can expect is mostly about the players they face, but I think now playing in a hostile environment with 75,000 – players have to be aware of that.

“It’s my first time that I go there with Liverpool – it’s my second time over there – but many of these players have played there before, so I don’t think I have to prepare them for these 75,000, I think they are used to this.

“But I have prepared them in the best possible way for what they can expect, because United plays, in my opinion, a bit different in the last two seasons.”

There will also be a familiar face in the dugout for Slot on Sunday as he goes up against Dutch compatriot and former Ajax manager Erik Ten Hag.

When asked about his relationship with Ten Hag, Slot replied: “(It is) as good and as normal as the relationship you have any other managers.

“Erik, Rene Hake, Ruud van Nistelrooy have joined him and the relationship with both of them is also the same as with Erik.

“I would call that very good because all of us respect each other a lot because of what these managers did at their former clubs.

“They’ve been successful, all three of them, at the clubs they worked at in the past.”