Manchester United will play to win against Liverpool, insists Jose Mourinho

Jose Mourinho has insisted that he will send his Manchester United players out to win when Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool visit Old Trafford this weekend.

Second-placed United can move five points clear of their third-placed visitors with victory on Saturday, though recent meetings between English football’s two most successful clubs have rarely lived up to their billing.

Mourinho was widely criticised for his conservative approach in the reverse fixture last October, which ended as an unremarkable goalless draw. United had left Anfield with the same scoreline a year earlier, having played in the much the same manner.

Given the attacking talents of Klopp’s Liverpool, who have scored more goals away from home than any other Premier League side this season, Mourinho may well be tempted to prioritise the defensive side of the game once again.

However, the United manager also stressed that whatever approach he adopts, his players will play to win.

“We want to win every match and it doesn’t matter the approach, we want to win every match,” he said. “Against Liverpool, I think in these three matches we had one bad result [the 1-1 draw at home in January of last year] and two good results. That’s my feeling.”

​Mourinho sees the lunchtime kick-off as a meeting between two teams of a similar standard enjoying similar seasons and hailed Klopp’s side as a “very good team”, though one not without its faults.

“They have qualities and they have weaknesses. We have qualities, and we have weaknesses,” he said. “One of my good qualities as coach was always to know my team’s weaknesses very well and sometimes I tried to hide them and sometimes I have to try to compensate [for] them with other things, but Liverpool is Liverpool and we are what we.

“I think they are a very good team. I repeat, they are a very good team with some weaknesses, and I don’t think weaknesses is a strong word because I used that word in relation to my own team.”

Mourinho would not expand on what weaknesses he sees in his own side, though he suggested the journalists present should look for answers from former players now working in the media, who he described as “the oracles”.

Mourinho had earlier hit out at unnamed former managers working in the media who criticise his side's style of play.

“Some of the guys with an opinion couldn’t resolve their own problems when they were managers, so they are giving opinions like they have solutions for everything but is not like that,” he said.

“They are in a position where they can give opinions about everything. Sometimes I read and listen, sometimes I don’t. This week I was more focused on enjoying Champions League and Europa League and preparing my match than be focused on opinions.”