Chapter 992 High Attention

在目前的英超积分榜上，曼联和利物浦都只赛了31场，曼联24胜6平1负积78分排名第一，利物浦21胜7平3负积70分排名第二。

If Liverpool can beat Manchester United at home in this make-up match, they will only be 6 points behind Manchester United with 5 rounds left in the league and there is still hope of a reversal.

But if they lose to Manchester United again at home, they will be 6 points behind Manchester United with six rounds left in the league, which means they will basically lose the possibility of competing for the Premier League title.

Even if they draw with Manchester United at home, it will be very difficult for them to win the first Premier League title in team history as they are 6 points behind in 8 games.

Therefore, in this game, Liverpool cannot accept any other result except winning at home.

As for Manchester United, they naturally hope to win away from home, so that they can eliminate their strong rival Liverpool in advance.

However, the schedule is somewhat disadvantageous for Manchester United, because this game is only three days away from the FA Cup semi-final with Crystal Palace, and the players have some problems with their physical fitness.

In comparison, Liverpool, who played the FA Cup semi-final a day earlier, had one more day of rest than Manchester United.

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In fact, there are far more Premier League matches this week than just the Manchester United vs. Liverpool derby. Due to the FA Cup, one of the 30th round of the Premier League was brought forward and the other five were postponed.

Four of these games will be played this week. In addition to this Manchester United game, there are Newcastle United at home against Crystal Palace, Manchester City at home against Brighton, and Burnley at home against Southampton.

Of these, the most watched match is naturally the Reds vs. Manchester United match. On the one hand, the two teams are currently ranked in the top two of the Premier League standings, and the match between them is the decisive battle of the Premier League, which is related to the overall situation of winning the championship. On the other hand, both teams are top giants in British and even world football, with hundreds of millions of fans around the world and extraordinary influence.

This season, the competition between Manchester United and Liverpool can be said to be the most comprehensive one.

In the League Cup that has ended, both teams reached the final, but in the end Manchester United defeated Liverpool and won the first round.

In last weekend's FA Cup semi-finals, Manchester United and Liverpool once again defeated their respective opponents and met in the final on May 5.

In the Champions League quarter-finals last week, Manchester United and Liverpool both entered the Champions League semi-finals and were in different halves. If they can beat their opponents, they will once again compete for this season's Champions League title on May 5.

In addition, the two teams are currently ranked first and second in the Premier League standings, which means that the two teams are likely to be direct competitors on all four fronts.

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In the world of football, derby matches are often one of the most anticipated football matches by fans. And the match between the two strongest teams in a top league is often called the national derby.

In the world of football, there are several countries whose national derbies are recognized, namely Real Madrid and Barcelona in La Liga, Bayern Munich and Dortmund in the Bundesliga, and the Red Derby in the Premier League.

Although Manchester City's rise in the past decade or so has made it Manchester United's biggest competitor, the Red Devils are undoubtedly more popular around the world.

Especially this season, when Manchester United and Liverpool have taken their competition to the extreme.

But if it was just a strong confrontation, just competing for the league championship, then this game would not have received such grand attention.

Another important reason is the news that Salah was poached by Manchester United at the beginning of this month.

The news was revealed by The Sun on April 4, and at first many people thought it was just an April Fools' joke. After all, there has been no direct transfer of players between Manchester United and Liverpool for nearly 1 years.

Whether it is Michael Owen, Paul Ince earlier, or Peter Beardsley, although they have played for both clubs, the transfer did not take place directly between the two clubs.

The most recent direct transfer between the two clubs was Phil Chisnall from Manchester United to Liverpool in 1964.

Chisnall began his career at Manchester United, when Sir Matt Busby was in charge, but Bill Shankly persuaded him to move to Liverpool in 1964, and there would be no more direct transfers between the two sides for 58 years.

But soon the news was reported by more media through more channels, which quickly shook the British football world and even the whole world, and created another grudge between the two teams beyond the competitive level.

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After this news came to light, Manchester United officially announced that they would submit Salah's application to Liverpool after the Champions League quarter-finals.

So on the morning of April 14, after the Champions League quarter-finals, Manchester United submitted a transfer request for Salah to Liverpool.

Of course, Liverpool immediately announced the rejection of Manchester United's transfer application, stating that Liverpool would never sell Salah to Manchester United.

However, after the two clubs issued the announcements, Salah did not express that he wanted to stay in Liverpool, nor did he start contract renewal negotiations with Liverpool, which made Liverpool fans very disappointed and angry.

Although Salah's performance on the court was outstanding, it did not diminish the dissatisfaction of Liverpool fans towards him.

Even his outstanding performance on the court made many Liverpool fans even more angry, because it was in sharp contrast with the future: the team's offensive core who performed so well did not renew his contract with the team when there was only one year left in his contract. What does this mean?

Considering the good personal relationship between Salah and Manchester United captain Bruno, and the fact that Salah has refused to renew his contract with Liverpool again and again in the past three years, many Liverpool fans believe that they have discovered the truth: Salah is determined to leave Liverpool and join Manchester United!

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In the eyes of many Liverpool fans, Salah's transfer to Manchester United this summer is not the worst outcome. After all, it can at least bring Liverpool a considerable transfer fee.

In the latest German transfer market, Salah, who is about to turn 30, is worth 1.2 million euros. Even if there is only one year left on his contract, as long as the transfer takes place this summer, the transfer fee will be at least million!

The worst outcome is that Salah neither renews his contract with Liverpool nor transfers to other teams this summer. Because as long as the winter transfer window comes, when there are only six months left in his contract with Liverpool, Salah can negotiate a contract with Manchester United and then join Manchester United as a free agent in the summer window next year.

After drawing with Benfica at home to advance to the Champions League semi-finals, every Liverpool player received applause and cheers from the home fans, with the exception of Salah.

When he came on as a substitute in the 57th minute of the game, there was applause and cheers, but also clear and harsh boos.

Liverpool fans are angry at Salah and also angry at Manchester United for poaching him.

The rival for the championship and the enemy who poached the main player, these two emotions mixed together are the reason why this decisive battle is so highly anticipated.

If Manchester United can not only snatch Liverpool's core players in the transfer market, but also snatch their league title at Liverpool's home ground, it will be a double blow to Liverpool.

As for Liverpool, with the possibility that their offensive core Salah may be poached by Manchester United, they certainly hope to retaliate by defeating Manchester United head-on.

Everyone wants to win this game, but victory can only belong to one side, and someone is destined to be the loser after this game.

Which side will it be?

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Before the game, the two sides had already started a war of words.

Manchester United coach Mourinho publicly criticized the Premier League schedule: "We just finished the game against Crystal Palace in London, and we had to rush back to Manchester, rest at home for a day, and then rush to Liverpool without stopping. There were only two days in between! The team didn't get a good rest at all, and the players were very tired."

"On the other hand, Liverpool played a day earlier than us in the FA Cup, so they didn't have to move after returning home, and they could wait for the match at their home ground..."

"I really don't understand why there is such a bad schedule? Why can't our game against Liverpool be postponed for another day? Why can Burnley and Southampton's games be played on the evening of April 4, but we have to play on the evening of April 21? Do Burnley and Southampton participate in the Champions League? Can't the league arrange the schedule flexibly and make temporary adjustments for special circumstances?"

To be honest, Mourinho's complaints are justified.

Manchester United just finished the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final against Manchester City on the evening of April 4, and will go to London to play the FA Cup semi-final on the afternoon of April 13. After the game, Manchester United will immediately take a connecting flight back to Manchester.

The team was then disbanded on the spot, but the players could only rest for half a day. On the afternoon of April 4, the team had to gather for training.

Even so, Manchester United only has two days to prepare. Two days later, at noon on April 4, the entire team will take a bus to Liverpool to prepare for the game that evening.

During this period, the entire Manchester United team was indeed "on the go", flying from Manchester to London, from London to Manchester, and then from Manchester to Liverpool.

Three journeys and three cities in four days, not to mention the professional players who have very high physical requirements, even ordinary people would be exhausted after such a tossing and turning, and Manchester United players will soon face an important and high-intensity game.