“It’s three points and no less for Liverpool” says Robert Marawa

• Pick of the week: Manchester United vs. Liverpool
• Kickoff: Sunday, 01 September; 17:30
• Venue: Old Trafford
• Live on Showmax Premier League

“Long before I even had dreams of becoming a broadcaster, Liverpool was front and centre of my world. Liverpool were the team I supported. I supported them mainly because of John Barnes. He was an exceptional football player. He was part of a trio of players at Liverpool at the time. It was Barnes, John Alridge, Peter Beardsley. I call them the three musketeers. They had Anfield bouncing each and every week. Anfield was filled to the rafters. The Kop was buzzing all the time, especially when they played against Manchester United.

“It is for those reasons that I maintained my love for this team. I got to meet John Barnes. I got to work with him as well. I got to meet Michael Thomas back then. He got signed by Liverpool after he scored a very famous last-minute goal. Liverpool snatched him up after that. When I saw Michael Thomas, I asked him for an autograph and he kindly obliged. I found him to be a very wonderful person. Talking about Michael’s, I also met the great Micheal Owen. I met Steve McManaman and got to work with him too. I got to meet Bruce Grobbelaar. Those are some of the great Liverpool individuals that I looked up to and got to brush shoulders with. I just never looked back in terms of my love and affiliation to the team.
“So back to the big game of the weekend. We have seen Man United struggle a little this season. It’s not the kind of start that they would have wanted. Erik ten Hag is under a lot of pressure to produce great results, but we didn’t see that happening with their opening two games. They barely played well against Fulham. They huffed and they puffed and eventually earned their three points. And then they lost to a very sprightly looking Brighton and Hove Albion in the last week.

“But when you look at how Arne Slot, the new Liverpool manager, has been able to kick start the first two matchdays. He has shown with the many players he has used in the two games that he has depth in this squad. That is why in terms of the transfer market it hasn’t been very important for him to delve into that. They got two good wins in the opening two games, kept two clean sheets. But now the big one is upon Slot and his men.

“Funnily enough, the main focus will be the man in the middle. Anthony Taylor is the person who is going to be refereeing the clash. I tried to count earlier on. It’s going to be his fifth game in charge between Man United and Liverpool. Liverpool fans hate him, but you look at the record, and Liverpool are unbeaten in games that he has overseen in this fixture. So, I’m not too sure why the guys are fearing his involvement in the game. From me, it’s a game that I would look at as a fan of Liverpool and then maybe post that, we will get back into the analytical side of things. But it’s an exciting prospect, and I am looking forward to it. They may have changed the kickoff time slightly by thirty minutes to accommodate the fans and all the trouble that comes with these games, but it’s going to be a confident Liverpool marching to Old Trafford with their heads held high. The Slot era has kicked in with a great deal of confidence, so it’s all three points and nothing less.”

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