Watch Liverpool v Man Utd live on Sky Sports from 3.30pm on Sunday
Thursday 13 December 2018 08:14, UK
Which one player should Liverpool and Manchester United sign from the other club? The Soccer Saturday pundits discuss ahead of the Premier League showdown.
The pair go head to head live on Sky Sports from 3.30pm on Sunday as Liverpool look to maintain their unbeaten run, while Jose Mourinho's side aim for another three points.
But which one player from Liverpool and Man Utd would make the other team better? The Soccer Saturday pundits have made their choices.
If I was Man Utd, I'd want Virgil van Dijk. Defensively, they are not good enough, nowhere near it and he's the best in the business for me. It's easy to say after, but Van Dijk probably wondered if he would be this good at a big club because he was at Southampton where if you win, you win, if you don't then you don't. I don't mean that in a bad way but there's no pressure compared to Liverpool.
I would go Romelu Lukaku for Liverpool. I think if Liverpool come short this year, it will be up front because Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane are not scoring enough. Mohamed Salah has been consistent and has done great and people keep thinking he will get 40 again, which will be some ask but he's done great for me.
For a team, Lukaku is a goal scorer who will score you big goals in games. Liverpool are great, do not get me wrong, but they are a bit lightweight. When things kick off later on in the year, when you need someone who's big and strong and you are under pressure, I think they might need someone like that.
United would probably like to sign Van Dijk if they could pick just one. He's such an imposing figure at the back and they've had such problems with their defence this season.
The other way round, it's a lot harder! I'm really struggling to find anyone so I'd have to go for David de Gea, just because he's one of the best in the world, but even then it's not too much of an upgrade on Alisson.
Not so long ago, I'd have taken loads of United players and put them into the Liverpool team, but I don't think at this moment in time you would not say anyone would get into the Liverpool team.
I've always been a big fan of Juan Mata and I'm surprised he does not play more as he offers something different going forward. But Liverpool now have Xherdan Shaqiri, who can operate in that position behind the forwards and he's done really well since coming to the club.
Going the other way, it has to be Van Dijk because he's the kind of player you can build a team around. He can sure them up at the back and can organise those around him to make the team a lot more solid and then give them a better base to attack.
I also think most of United's problems have come them not being solid enough at the back to then be comfortable letting the forward players get in with their jobs.
Alisson has certainly improved Liverpool's defence, but David de Gea is still the best in the world when everybody's on form. He's under a little bit of scrutiny now because of those mistakes but he's the only United player I could even find a slot for in Liverpool's team - and even then it's close as Alisson is not too far behind him.
In terms of the other way, you have got 10 players to pick from and you could go straight away to Van Dijk or Salah, but I've always been a massive fan of Firmino. I know he's not been at his best recently but he brings the whole team together with his work and his ability up front and that's something that United just don't have.
Watch Liverpool v Man Utd live on Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Main Event from 3.30pm on Renault Super Sunday.
