Jurgen Klopp: Liverpool should get points if Manchester United game postponed over protests

Jurgen Klopp believes Liverpool should be awarded the points if their Premier League match against Manchester United is postponed over fan protests.

A game between the sides in May 2021 had to be rearranged after home fans marched to Old Trafford to protest the Glazer family’s ownership of the club.

Another protest is planned before Monday’s match, leading to fears of a repeat.

“Plans for the game not happening? Yes, going home on the bus,” Klopp said.

“I really hope it will not happen but if it does happen I think we get the points.

“We have nothing to do with the situation and if the supporters want the game not happening, then we cannot just rearrange the game again and fit it in somewhere in an incredibly busy season.

“People tell us we are fine, we go there and play the game hopefully and go home. But in a situation like this, always the other team should get the points because they have nothing to do with it and they have prepared for it.”

Last year’s match, the first in Premier League history to be postponed because of fan protests, was meant to be played behind closed doors because of the coronavirus pandemic.

However, thousands of United supporters gathered outside the ground in the hours before the scheduled kick-off before around 200 fans broke into the stadium.

Asked about the planned protests against the Glazer family, United boss Erik ten Hag said: “I can only say the owners want to win – and the fans, we want them behind the club.

“I can understand sometimes but I am not that long in the club that I can see all the backgrounds, but we have to be unified and fight together.”

Both teams will be searching for a first win of the season, with Liverpool having drawn their first two games and United starting with back-to-back defeats.

Ten Hag wants to see more “fighting spirit” from his side when they take on their rivals on Monday.

“It starts with yourself,” he said. “Act as a team. Follow the rules and principles and work hard, as hard as you can maximise. If you do that, then you get confidence.

“It’s a week that’s normal as a manager. That you see a game, you have a plan, a way of play and then you check how the game went.

“And then you analyse and you see what’s wrong and what’s good. Now obviously, a lot went wrong [in the 4-0 defeat to Brentford], but what I say is you don’t have to talk about anything when the attitude is not right.”

Original article published 20.08.2022 on the BBC Sport website.

To view the full article, click here 

© The Fan Experience Company 2022