Erik ten Hag urged to start “interesting” star vs Liverpool, but Man United’s ‘best’ will be dropped

Erik ten Hag has been urged to start an “interesting” player against Liverpool, but doing so would mean dropping one of Manchester United’s best stars so far.

Manchester United are turning their heads to their third Premier League fixture of 2024/25 as they line up to face Liverpool at Old Trafford.

Erik ten Hag‘s team produced mixed results during their opening two games, beating Fulham 1-0 before losing 2-1 in the final moments against Brighton. However, it has been noted that United, for the most part, look much more structured than last season.

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Liverpool, on the other hand, have won both of their opening ties 2-0 against Ipswich Town and Brentford, respectively, and new manager Arne Slot will be heading to Old Trafford wanting a statement of intent for his team.

United have played a front four during both of the two games so far, with Mason Mount and Bruno Fernandes spearheading the attack due to Rasmus Højlund’s unavailability.

However, in both fixtures, new striker signing Joshua Zirkzee has entered the fray during the second half, and former club striker Louis Saha has explained that he wants to see Zirkzee start.

Speaking to Betfred, the former striker said: “It would be nice to see Joshua Zirkzee start. He’s a player that’s very interesting and gets involved in the right places. I’d like to see his game improve with more minutes and confidence.”

Further, Saha then revealed that he would play Zirkzee over Mason Mount, who some have regarded as the club’s best player during the opening two fixtures. Mount has been paramount to the team’s on-field structure so far.

“Mason Mount has been very active, but from an attacking midfielder, that’s not enough. He needs to push himself more because there are players on the bench waiting to take his place.

“For Sunday’s game, though, I’d definitely like to see a striker up top because even though the false nine works sometimes in terms of pressing, that’s not the mission. The mission is to score goals.”

Speaking to the media after the game, Ten Hag confirmed that Mason Mount had come off with a little problem against Brighton, meaning that he may be rested against Liverpool with Zirkzee starting his first fixture at Old Trafford.

“It was a decision, he had some problems, he had an issue, so we know the history of Mason, so there are four weeks to come out,” Ten Hag said when asked about Mount’s injury concern.

“But I think, also, Joshua is coming better in, we are losing the game, and I think he had a good impact in the game.”

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