Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has hit out at the media for giving Manchester United further motivation ahead of Sunday's game at Old Trafford.
The Reds enter the rivalry match atop the Premier League table, having won all eight of their league games so far this season.
United, meanwhile, have fallen on hard times, sitting 12th in the table, just two points above the relegation zone.
With this as the backdrop, there has been an air of ridicule around traditional power United in the week leading up to the match. Klopp was particurally bothered by articles that picked a combined XI from the two teams and included no Man Utd players.
“In general, the mood that these things create? Yes, I would use it,” Klopp said of United being provided bulletin-board material by various media outlets.
"So that is the situation that everyone creates: that we are so good and they have so many problems, they cannot play football anymore, we are flying, all this stuff.
“I saw all these things and it looks like they want to help Man Utd. All these articles look like they have been written by Man Utd supporters. A banana skin, a joke.
"I saw the combined team. Would I have found it insulting if it were us? Yes.”
Klopp did say that his side should be wary of a wounded United side, insisting that Sunday's game could come at the perfect time for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men, who will be expected to lose at home but could secure a season-defining result with an upset win.
“They are all on their toes, ready, they wait for us. They said it already, they said that we are the perfect opponent now,” Klopp said.
“I don’t think there are a lot of teams who would love to play us at the moment.
“It looks like Man Utd are the only ones who want us. We have to make sure that is a misunderstanding.
“But it’s normal. I would do exactly the same if the situation was the other way round. This is the game that can change the world. That’s exactly how I would prepare it, so why shouldn’t Ole do that?"
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