Dirk Kuyt reckons Liverpool’s 4-0 thrashing of Real Madrid has sent out a message to their rivals but he now wants to make an even greater statement of intent at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Liverpool’s emphatic win at Anfield on Tuesday was the heaviest defeat suffered by European club football’s most successful side in the competition during the Champions League era and was the ideal result ahead of their domestic showdown with great North West rivals Manchester United.
Despite Sir Alex Ferguson’s side having a game in hand on Liverpool, Rafael Benitez’s men trail the Premier League champions by seven points, lying in third place behind Chelsea on goal difference. Kuyt knows that realistically it looks like Liverpool will have to win at Old Trafford if they are to keep their own title hopes alive but he hopes his team-mates can send out an even greater message than they did against the Spanish giants by pulling off the victory they need.
He said: “Of course our title hopes would seem over if we lose but if we can beat them on Saturday that would send out a big message, even more so than the one we sent out against Madrid.
“We’ll give it a try and it will be difficult but we are playing well and anything can happen.”
Liverpool were beaten 3-0 by United in the corresponding fixture last season and while they inflicted a 2-1 victory over them in the Anfield Premier League clash this term Kuyt does not want to think too far ahead in terms of putting pressure on Ferguson’s men in the title race.
He said: “I think that’s one step ahead. We can’t think about anything else but focusing on beating them on Saturday and then see what happens.
“Even if we win the gap will be big so it’s up to us to win our home games and hope they have some difficulties. When we get a good result on Saturday we’ll see what happens.”
Liverpool’s win over United in September was significant in that it was achieved without major contributions from Steven Gerrard or Fernando Torres but with the Anfield outfit’s two brightest stars back to goal-scoring form against Real Madrid, Kuyt believes that even United’s watertight defence could be breached.
He said: “Stevie and Nando were both unbelievable and the team behind those two gave a great performance as well so if we can replicate that performance against United with Fernando and Stevie doing what they did against Madrid we’ll have a great chance. They score a lot of goals, it’s an unbelievable partnership.
“Unfortunately for us Fernando has struggled with injuries for a long time this season and Stevie’s been out a bit himself but hopefully they can play the rest of the season together and give us a better chance in both competitions.
“We haven’t had the results we wanted over the last couple of months but we’ll see if we can surprise people between now and the end of the season.”
Kuyt believes that the emphatic demolition of Real Madrid was further proof that his team-mates can rise to the big occasion and was the perfect performance ahead of the short trip down the M62.
He said: “We had a gameplan and this is exactly what we wanted to do.
“We didn’t want to sit behind the ball and wait for them to attack, we just wanted to get at them, try to score early, get the crowd behind us and that’s exactly what happened.
“United are a very good team, but Madrid are too and we have shown this season that we can beat the big opponents when they come along.
“We won away to Chelsea and Madrid, we beat United and Madrid at home so I think we can do something on Saturday.
“It will difficult, we know that. United are playing really well, especially at home, but we will give it all we can and try to win because we have to take three points.”
Liverpool’s midweek victory is already being regarded as one of their all-time greats on the European stage but Kuyt admits there is little time for sentiment with another major task just around the corner.
He said: “It was definitely one of the biggest results we’ve had in the last few years, it was a great result.
“It feels great to beat Real Madrid at any time but to beat them 1-0 and then 4-0 was even better so we’re very happy but now we have to focus on the next games, starting with Manchester United on Saturday.”
Liverpool’s emphatic win at Anfield on Tuesday was the heaviest defeat suffered by European club football’s most successful side in the competition during the Champions League era and was the ideal result ahead of their domestic showdown with great North West rivals Manchester United.
Despite Sir Alex Ferguson’s side having a game in hand on Liverpool, Rafael Benitez’s men trail the Premier League champions by seven points, lying in third place behind Chelsea on goal difference. Kuyt knows that realistically it looks like Liverpool will have to win at Old Trafford if they are to keep their own title hopes alive but he hopes his team-mates can send out an even greater message than they did against the Spanish giants by pulling off the victory they need.
He said: “Of course our title hopes would seem over if we lose but if we can beat them on Saturday that would send out a big message, even more so than the one we sent out against Madrid.
“We’ll give it a try and it will be difficult but we are playing well and anything can happen.”
Liverpool were beaten 3-0 by United in the corresponding fixture last season and while they inflicted a 2-1 victory over them in the Anfield Premier League clash this term Kuyt does not want to think too far ahead in terms of putting pressure on Ferguson’s men in the title race.
He said: “I think that’s one step ahead. We can’t think about anything else but focusing on beating them on Saturday and then see what happens.
“Even if we win the gap will be big so it’s up to us to win our home games and hope they have some difficulties. When we get a good result on Saturday we’ll see what happens.”
Liverpool’s win over United in September was significant in that it was achieved without major contributions from Steven Gerrard or Fernando Torres but with the Anfield outfit’s two brightest stars back to goal-scoring form against Real Madrid, Kuyt believes that even United’s watertight defence could be breached.
He said: “Stevie and Nando were both unbelievable and the team behind those two gave a great performance as well so if we can replicate that performance against United with Fernando and Stevie doing what they did against Madrid we’ll have a great chance. They score a lot of goals, it’s an unbelievable partnership.
“Unfortunately for us Fernando has struggled with injuries for a long time this season and Stevie’s been out a bit himself but hopefully they can play the rest of the season together and give us a better chance in both competitions.
“We haven’t had the results we wanted over the last couple of months but we’ll see if we can surprise people between now and the end of the season.”
Kuyt believes that the emphatic demolition of Real Madrid was further proof that his team-mates can rise to the big occasion and was the perfect performance ahead of the short trip down the M62.
He said: “We had a gameplan and this is exactly what we wanted to do.
“We didn’t want to sit behind the ball and wait for them to attack, we just wanted to get at them, try to score early, get the crowd behind us and that’s exactly what happened.
“United are a very good team, but Madrid are too and we have shown this season that we can beat the big opponents when they come along.
“We won away to Chelsea and Madrid, we beat United and Madrid at home so I think we can do something on Saturday.
“It will difficult, we know that. United are playing really well, especially at home, but we will give it all we can and try to win because we have to take three points.”
Liverpool’s midweek victory is already being regarded as one of their all-time greats on the European stage but Kuyt admits there is little time for sentiment with another major task just around the corner.
He said: “It was definitely one of the biggest results we’ve had in the last few years, it was a great result.
“It feels great to beat Real Madrid at any time but to beat them 1-0 and then 4-0 was even better so we’re very happy but now we have to focus on the next games, starting with Manchester United on Saturday.”
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