The “laziness” of one Manchester United player can be exploited by Liverpool when they take on their rivals this weekend, according to former Red Devils defender Paul Parker.
The Reds host their bitter rivals in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon, desperately looking to get back to winning ways after three defeats in a row.
Speaking on The Devils’ Advocate podcast [via Caught Offside], Parker claimed that Luke Shaw could be a weak link for United this weekend, with Mohamed Salah potentially profiting from his “laziness”:
“You look at the teams they have played against and they can’t handle pace and energy levels. If Liverpool play in front of them, it will be great but I don’t think they will. I think they will try and turn them around, especially on the left side with Luke Shaw. Salah is going to be looking to run in behind with and without the ball, knowing the laziness of Luke Shaw, who he will be pulling at his shirt all the time and little things like that.
“They haven’t got the discipline, trustworthy people to play for what the manager wants to do. You can moan and moan about his system, but at the end of the day, they want to use this word elite about these players of today, which is absolutely rubbish to be perfectly honest, but if they were that elite, they would be clever enough to go bang and do it.”
A must-win game for Liverpool against their rivals
More dropped points at home to United on Sunday would feel like a major blow for Liverpool, as they look to pick up some momentum after the international break.
The Premier League champions have allowed Arsenal to go above them at the of the table, and while there is no reason to panic too much, failure to beat a mediocre Red Devils side would be a cause for concern.
Hopefully, Salah can return to his best up against United, following a disappointing start to the season, with that likely to be one of many key battles on the pitch, with the Englishman possibly one of three centre-backs in Ruben Amorim’s 3-4-3 formation.
This feels like a moment in the campaign where Liverpool have to kick on and show their title credentials, having underperformed too many times this season.
