Wayne Rooney has warned Liverpool that they will face “the best player in the world” in the shape of Cristiano Ronaldo.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s form a big boost for Manchester United as they take on Liverpool at Anfield today
LIVERPOOL: Wayne Rooney has warned Liverpool that they will face “the best player in the world” in the shape of Cristiano Ronaldo as Manchester United look to take a huge stride towards reclaiming the Premiership title at Anfield on Saturday.
Portuguese sensation Ronaldo arrives at the famous Merseyside venue in blistering form having scored 16 times in the Premiership this season. The last of those goals, a late winner at Fulham last weekend, enabled United to open up a nine-point cushion at the top of the table and a victory on Saturday would make Sir Alex Ferguson’s side strong favourites to go on and claim the ninth league title of the Scot’s reign. If they do, Ronaldo will take much of the credit and Rooney believes there is no one to match his 22-year-old teammate on current form.
“I’m just delighted he’s playing for us because at this moment he’s the best in the world,” said Rooney. “You want to play with the very best and it’s great to be in the same team as Cristiano.”
United will go 12 points clear of second-placed Chelsea, should they rattle up a fifth successive league win.
But fierce rivals Liverpool, whose title hopes vanished when they failed to beat Everton and Newcastle last month, are defending an impressive 30-match unbeaten Premiership sequence at Anfield, and a top-flight club record run of nine successive clean sheets at home.
Rafa Benitez’s side will move to within four points of second spot if they defeat their north west neighbours for the first time in six league attempts. That would give the club a huge lift as they look to kill off Barcelona, whom they lead 2-1 from the first leg, and book a place in the last eight of the Champions League on Tuesday.
Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard admitted his side were facing a make-or-break week. “Two victories in the next few days would set us up for the rest of the season,” said the England midfielder.
“There is a danger of the season fading away if we don’t get results in the next two games. We’re out of two cups, we’re third in the league and we have a massive gap to catch Manchester United, so it’s important we try and take maximum points off them and get into the last eight of the Champions League, as it gives us a lot more to play for.”
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