Football news - Jurgen Klopp accuses Ole Gunnar Solskjaer of Ferguson-style mind games

It was Solskjaer’s former manager at United, Alex Ferguson, who suggested that he would ‘check under the sauce’ to make sure there was pasta, when it was rumoured that a rival might not be telling the whole truth over their players’ fitness.

This time it is Liverpool’s boss Klopp who intimated that the United manager might not be entirely up front regarding the fitness of David de Gea and Paul Pogba.

Pogba has been out of action since United’s game against Arsenal, and De Gea appeared to suffer a hamstring injury for the Spanish national side during the international break. The Norwegian was pessimistic over the prospects of them being able to compete.

Of Pogba, Solskjaer said: "Paul had an injury, he came back, he worked really hard. He came back and played a couple of games, maybe played through the pain barrier."

He then rated De Gea’s chances: "I don’t expect him to play, but wasn’t as bad as feared. When I saw the game I thought that’s him out until the next international break but it’s not as bad as feared.”

However Klopp was sceptical, telling the pre-match press conference that: “Yesterday, no chance for De Gea and Pogba. Today it’s a maybe. Tomorrow it’s a chance.”

Klopp also criticised the media for their build-up of the game on Sunday, believing they were encouraging complacency in his side.

He said: “That is the situation everyone creates: that we are so good and they have so many problems, they can not play football anymore and we are flying. All this stuff gets built up in a week when there have been no other games. That is what I mean about building a banana skin. It is like we just have to go there and don’t respect them on the level they deserve. We need to respect them to face the difficulties in the game and it will be there in the right way.

“I saw all these things and it looks like they want to help Man United. All these articles look like they have been written by Man United supporters."

The German may have a point, as midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum discussed the possibility of the side going unbeaten for the season, claiming it could happen.

The Dutch player said: 'It is possible. Nobody knows how it’s going to be. We have had some luck up to now, but we have also put a lot of hard work in.”

Despite the downbeat assessment of his side’s injury problems with Pogba and De Gea, Solskjaer was nonetheless confident that his side were going in the right direction.

He said: “The mood here is always good, we’ve come a long way on what you call the culture, the environment we’re working in and it’s a positive one, it’s working towards something.

“[Liverpool are] doing well in the league, that’s for sure, but we’re looking forward to this game, I think it’s the perfect game for our players, the perfect game for our fans. We’ve had a tough time, a difficult time lately but I’m sure we’ll give them a good game."

He was not planning to shut up shop on Sunday, explaining he wants his side to be more attacking: “We haven’t been adventurous enough, taking enough risks. If you watch the best teams they take more risks with the ball, they make more runs in behind and that’s part of the process for the boys.

“When they’re losing confidence maybe they want to play it a bit more safe but it’s not safety that does it here - at this club you do take risks.”

Liverpool will remain top of the table regardless of the result tomorrow, while United could find themselves in the relegation zone if they lose.