“Having six players from former clubs of mine is not a coincidence” – Rangnick admits he knows how Klopp ‘wants to play’ ahead of Liverpool vs Manchester United

Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick believes he knows how Liverpool will play in tomorrow's Premier League clash, having previously managed several of the Jurgen Klopp's players.

Rangnick has taken credit for giving the core of Klopp's squad their big breaks in European football. He went on to claim that the two German bosses have similar ideas about how football should be played.

Sadio Mane, Naby Keita, Ibrahima Konate and Takumi Minamino were signed while Rangnick was the director of football for Red Bull Salzburg. The 63-year-old also signed Roberto Firmino when he was in charge of Hoffenheim and managed Joel Matip at Schalke.

The temporary Red Devils boss couldn't resist pointing out that he and his staff scouted and developed several of Klopp's current side. As per The MEN in his pre-match press conference, Rangnick said:

"I didn't say how much influence I had on those players but it's pretty obvious a big club like Liverpool, one of the best clubs in Europe, have six former players. It's probably the highest number of players that nobody knew by the time we gave them debuts."

"This has got to do with a similar idea of football. Jurgen and me have known each other for a long time, I know how he wants to play, having six players from former clubs of mine is not a coincidence."

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Rangnick insists Manchester United are ready for Liverpool challenge

The Anfield clash is huge for both sides. Liverpool will be at the top of the table if they beat their fierce rivals before Manchester City play Brighton a day later.

Following their win over Norwich last time out, United are currently fifth in the table. They are three points behind Tottenham, who occupy the Premier League's final Champions League spot.

Rangnick recognizes that his side are underdogs for tomorrow's titanic tussle. However, he claimed his team are aiming for a victory over their greatest enemy. In his conference, he said:

"As I said after the (Norwich) game, we need to be more compact, we need to find the right balance of what we do in possession of the ball and what we need to do in order to defend our own goal."

Rangnick added:

"This is what we need to show tomorrow against a team that is probably one of the best, if not the best, in creating moments which they can be dangerous from in and around the box. We need to be at our very best defensively but still have a formation and approach to the game that we can be dangerous ourselves."