Nathaniel Clyne believes Liverpool must capitalise on home advantage and beat Manchester United for the first time this season in the first leg of their last 16 Europa League tie at Anfield on Thursday if they are progress to the quarter-finals.
Liverpool have lost both Premier League matches with United this season – going down 3-1 at Old Trafford when Brendan Rodgers was in charge and losing 1-0 at Anfield under Jürgen Klopp in January.
When the draw for the last 16 was made, Klopp claimed it was the tie he wanted as it provides Liverpool with the chance to atone for earlier defeats and Clyne says they must take an advantage with them to Old Trafford on Thursday week.
“We need to take it to them, especially in the first leg when we’re at home,” the full-back said. “Try to get some goals but also keep a clean sheet, which is the most important thing. We don’t want them to get an away goal, and that’s what we want to try and do.
“I think we owe them from the Premier League games, which we probably should have got more out of. But we have time now to put things right and [make sure we] progress through the cup.
“We’ve learned to just keep fighting to the end. We know we can create chances and if we’re solid in defence we can stop their attack. Hopefully we can get the goals and get a good result going into the second leg it’ll help us push through to the next round.”
