16 December 2023 , 09:00
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Alisson has told Liverpool to beware of a fire hazard on Sunday as Manchester United seek to avenge last season's infamous 7-0 defeat.
Liverpool obliterated arch enemies United in March thanks to their sensational second-half performance, a slaughtering which Erik ten Hag's side are yet to recover from nine months later. Now set to meet again on Sunday, Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson has warned his team-mates - who go into the game as overwhelming favourites - that they'll be facing especially motivated opposition.
"I would be on fire and I would try to set my team-mates on fire as well," the Brazil No.1 affirmed, knowing all about what it's like to be thrashed at Anfield after losing 5-2 there with Roma in the 2018 Champions League semi-finals.
"I already played against Liverpool and I know how strong this team can be at Anfield. As a football player, as an elite athlete, you are going to try to use it to motivate yourself.
"I don't know much about the Man United players so I don't know what they are going to do, but I'm sure they are coming here to try to get the result from us."
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While United desperately try and get their act together, this season has started off better than most had expected for Liverpool. The Reds enter the weekend top of the Premier League table, having overtaken Arsenal and Manchester City thanks to a fine run of form.
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Alisson had the easiest job of the day when Liverpool beat Manchester United 7-0 (Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)But Alisson isn't getting carried away, admitting: "We have to slow down, not our pace, but talking about the title race because we are a team that is rebuilding. That is what we are doing here. We are rebuilding a team. Of course we want to win the league, of course we want to beat every opponent that we have. But we have to be focused always on the closest thing we have now."
Jurgen Klopp knows that his team are capable of reaching the kind of heights which saw Liverpool lift their first league title in 30 years back in 2020, but the key is maintaining those levels on a consistent basis. Boss Klopp mused on Friday: "What is the real capability? Is it what you can do in the moment? Or is it what you can do in three or four years of working together?
"For what we can do in the moment, we saw it in moments. And we saw the problems as well. That's clear when you have a new group together, and it is a new group: new players and different roles for other players, that’s how it is. It's always clear that it needs time to find some stability, that's what we lacked in moments. That's the truth."