Ralf Rangnick has credited himself with a part in the success Liverpool continue to enjoy under manager Jurgen Klopp ahead of Manchester United's trip to Anfield on Tuesday night.
Rangnick, the interim United boss, was an inspiration to Klopp and he identified a number of Liverpool's players during his time working for the Red Bull organisation.
The likes of Sadio Mane, Naby Keita and Ibrahima Konate all started as the Reds beat Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-finals at the weekend to keep up their quest to make history by winning an unprecedented quadruple this season. Manchester United, in contrast, are facing a fight to qualify for the Champions League.
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United can move level with fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur if they were to pull off a shock victory at Liverpool, who would move top with a win or a draw. And speaking before the big match, Rangnick said: "They are good, they are extremely good.
“It's no coincidence that they're as good as they are. Jurgen has built that team over the last six and a half years. Six or seven of those players used to be my players, we signed them for our clubs when nobody knew them.
“And again it's no coincidence that this is probably the club with the highest number of players from our former clubs because their approach, their style of football, the way they want to play is pretty similar.”
The reverse fixture took place in October with Liverpool recording a thumping 5-0 win at Old Trafford largely thanks to a superb Mohamed Salah hat-trick.
And, after watching the Reds beat Man City at Wembley at the weekend, Rangnick knows the strength of the side his team will be coming up against.
“Everybody has seen Saturday's game, we all know what team we're playing on Tuesday,” added Rangnick after United beat Norwich City 3-2 in the Premier League. “They might have the chance to win four trophies.
“If we play like we played today it will be very very difficult to get even a point out of this game this is what we have to be realistically aware of.”
