Manchester United are bracing themselves for a “brutal” clash with Liverpool after the international break, with Axel Tuanzebe admitting the Red Devils need to “go back to the drawing board”.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side have stumbled their way to the second shutdown in domestic competition after taking just nine points from their opening eight Premier League games.
A new low was hit during a 1-0 defeat to Newcastle last time out, with questions once again being asked of Solskjaer’s future as he struggles to inspire confidence and positive results.
Things are not about to get any easier for an under-fire coach either as a return to action on October 20 is set to see table-topping Liverpool – who are yet to drop a point this season – pay a visit to Old Trafford.
With the countdown now on to that contest and United left with some serious flaws to iron out, Tuanzebe has told MUTV: “It’s always a big game. Through my academy stages, Liverpool is a must-win. It’s a brutal game. It wasn’t a tippy-tappy game; no matter what age group.
“Obviously coming here to the first team, I expect more of the same. It will be a game where we need to grind it out and stick together and produce a result.”
Getty ImagesTuanzebe concedes that United are going through a “tough phase” at present, with luck deserting them once again during a trip to St James’ Park.
He added: “Yeah, you can see we shut them out for a long period of time.
“The only way they were able to score was a counter when we weren't really there. The goal, it is what it is: a 20-yard shot, it wasn’t like they played through us or anything like that.
“We go back to the drawing board, the international break [is] now time for us to regroup. We believe in what we’re doing, in time it will come.
“Now it’s just that tough phase. Next game we look forward to is Liverpool. [We] definitely want to get a result in that game.”
The highly-rated defender added, with United hoping to have the likes of Paul Pogba and Anthony Martial back at their disposal in the near future: “Obviously, we're waiting for players to come back [from injury] and that will be a positive to strengthen the squad again.
“[It] gives us time to reflect and build on our game because again we’re having a lot of possession but we need to have that final kind of penetration in the final third [to] give us chances to win games.”