Matic fires warning at Liverpool ahead of ‘biggest derby in England’
Nemanja Matic says Manchester United are “ready” to show Liverpool that they can challenge for the Premier League title.
A deflected volley from Paul Pogba in the 71st minute against Burnley on Tuesday night was enough to earn United victory in a match full of VAR controversy.
With nobody expecting United to challenge for the Premier League title this season, they have now moved three points clear of Liverpool at the summit.
MAILBOX: Man Utd forward is ‘hopelessly sh*t at football’ and more mails…
The Red Devils will travel to Anfield on Sunday as they look to increase the gap between themselves and Jurgen Klopp’s side, who sit second in the table.
And Matic says they are “ready” to compete for the title and plan to show Liverpool on Sunday.
“I think that these sort of wins show that we are ready to compete for the title,” Matic told Premier League Productions.
“Sometimes we have looked like a team who wants to score as soon as possible, then we get panicked. But I think today we showed more maturity, we showed we are more clever. And on this pitch, at this stadium against Burnley is always hard to win the games, not to concede a goal from long balls and set-pieces.
“We prepared the game well and I think we deserved these three points.”
On Pogba’s match-winning goal, Matic added: “We have a lot of quality in our team and in these kind of games you have to use that. You have to be patient, not to panic, because when you have that much quality over 90 minutes, one situation will decide and that was exactly what we did today. I’m happy for the team, for the team performance and the team spirit.
“Let’s see on Sunday against Liverpool. It’s the biggest derby in England and we go there to compete with them, to see where we are, one of the best teams in the league so I think that we are ready.”
Matic continued: “We’ve played 17 games and we’re top of the table so that shows something. We didn’t play five or six games and are top where you can say it’s lucky.
“After 17 games, it’s definitely not lucky and definitely there is quality. But we can’t relax, we have to concentrate until the end to go game by game. The next one is always the most important.”