Jurgen Klopp admits that Manchester United have become ‘a threat again’.
Liverpool travel to Old Trafford this weekend looking to return to the Premier League’s summit while Ole Gunnar Solskjaer aim to record a 12th win in charge.
The Norwegian coach has lost just one of his opening 13 games since replacing Jose Mourinho as the Red Devils’ manager on a caretaker basis.
Klopp believes that United’s ascendancy under Solskjaer has competitively reawakened the 20-time English champions following Mourinho’s departure in December.
He said: “That’s probably the best record a manager ever had when he came in [midway through] a season.
“When we start the analysis, you get the last 10 games and winning is green – it was pretty green, to be honest. They had a few good results since he was in.
“I said it already, we are not magicians but the potential of this Man United team is good, that was always clear.
“It didn’t work out (under Mourinho) for different reasons and all that stuff. He came in and obviously found exactly the right words and did exactly the right thing in training.
“I’m really happy for him that he got the opportunity to show his quality. He is doing it obviously. It’s not the best news for us but for Man United fans it’s obviously brilliant.
“He has all the things Sir Alex Ferguson stood for, because he was experienced in that time, with all the new things in football. That’s really good and makes them a threat again.
“They were always a threat in specific games but now, of course, they are really back on track.”
Meanwhile two of Liverpool’s Premier League games in April have been moved to Friday nights.
Four overall games were switched ihe latest TV scheduling plans with a trip to Southampton now set to take place on Friday, April 5.
The forthcoming visit of Huddersfield Town to Anfield was also put back to a Friday evening, on April 26. Both games will kick off at 8pm.
Other matched moves during the penultimate month of the season saw the Reds’ home clash with Chelsea now scheduled as a 4.30pm start on Sunday, April 14.
Title rivals Manchester City are also set to play on the same day with their game at Crystal Palace taking place before Liverpool’s meeting with the Londoners
A final change for Klopp’s side sees an away meeting with Cardiff City pushed back until 4pm on Sunday, April 21.