Jurgen Klopp insists that Liverpool should be given three points if Monday night’s trip to Old Trafford once again falls victim to protesting Manchester United fans.
United’s increasingly militant supporters have called for a boycott of the Premier League's highest-profile game, while mass demonstrations against the club’s vilified American owners are expected to take place in front of a global audience watching on television.
The behind-closed-doors clash between United and Liverpool was postponed in May last year, when furious fans were able to force their way into Old Trafford to voice their anger at the Glazer family’s ongoing ownership of the club.
United escaped a points deduction - but Klopp is demanding that Liverpool are awarded a walkover victory by the Premier League if a repeat of the disorder brings another cancellation. Klopp said: “I really hope it doesn't happen - but if it happens then we should get the points. We have nothing to do with the situation.
“If the supporters want the game not to happen, then we can't just rearrange the game and fit it in somewhere in an incredibly busy schedule. I don't think it will happen and I have no idea what could happen. I don't think about it. If they tell us we are fine then we go there, play and then go home.
“But I really think that in a situation like this, then the other team should always get the points. They (the visiting team) have prepared and have nothing to do with this.” Greater Manchester Police have put a huge security operation in place for a game that is always placed in the high-risk category.
When the postponed game in 2021 was rearranged 11 days later, a Liverpool-branded bus was halted on a city-centre side street by a number of strategically parked cars and had its tires slashed by fans. It later emerged that the vehicle was a decoy and that Klopp and his players had been transported from their hotel to Old Trafford on a different coach.
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Meanwhile, Klopp has advised United boss Erik ten Hag to ignore the intense media scrutiny on him in his early days at Old Trafford, although stopped short of giving one of Liverpool's biggest rivals any further advice on how to revive their fortunes. Klopp said: “It is not my cup of tea. I can't sit here four days before we play United and create headlines.
“If I say 'yes' it's just a matter of telling them how to do it. If I say ‘no’ then we have a real mess. You can ask me if we could play Pep Guardiola-football - and if I could coach like that then it could be possible. But I have nothing to say about Manchester United. It's not my subject. When I arrived here seven years ago, I don't think we hit the ground running. It wasn't 'oh God, you can see it immediately'.
“What I can say is that I didn't read anything - and that makes it easier because you know that when you're not over the moon about your own results, you don't care what people say. You don't have to read it. You don't have to be fussed by it. You focus on work and go for the little steps. I am pretty sure that it's the same for each club. I don't think it's anything different for bigger clubs. Sure, if you lose then the first five articles in newspapers are about that. But if you are strong enough not to read that then you can have an okay life and just work on the important stuff.”
