Ryan Giggs admits he dreads the thought of Liverpool winning the Premier League and fears this could be the season they win their first title in 27 years.
The Reds sit third in the table following a strong start to the campaign and could go top if they beat Crystal Palace on Saturday evening.
And that for Giggs, a lifelong United fan and the club’s most decorated player with 13 league winners’ medals to his name, is something not worth thinking about.
‘The prospect of Liverpool winning the league for the first time since 1990, they would not expect me to say anything other than it fills me with dread,’ he wrote in his column for the Daily Telegraph.
‘A long time ago they challenged United to come back when we had won it 18 times.
‘Twenty years later United had raised the bar to 20 and no-one on my side wants to see it swing back the other way.’
The 42-year-old recently criticised Reds striker Daniel Sturridge for his performance in England’s 0-0 draw with Slovenia in the Group F 2018 World Cup qualifier.
Despite Sturridge scoring against Tottenham in midweek, he isn’t convinced he has the quality required to score ’20 goals in a season’.
He also believes the lack of a potent frontman could hurt Klopp’s pursuit of his first domestic league title in England.
He added: ‘What they lack is a goalscorer who might get them 20 goals in a season and while Sadio Mane or Daniel Sturridge might prove me wrong, you do need one of those in a title-winning team.
‘All the recent champions have had one: Jamie Vardy, Diego Costa, Yaya Toure (who scored 20 goals in 2013-2014, although Sergio Aguero is Manchester City’s key striker), Robin Van Persie.
‘At the other end I do not think they have a goalkeeper who is among the top players in that position in the league, although that could change over time.’
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