De Gea and Fernandes know how big this game is

Both Reds sat down with us earlier this week, ahead of Sunday’s trip to Merseyside, to discuss the importance of the game, both to matchgoing fans and supporters worldwide.

With Erik ten Hag’s men in scintillating form and looking to record a first victory in L4 since January 2016, the two senior players look forward to walking out against our arch-rivals...

There’s another big game on the horizon as we visit Liverpool on Sunday. I know the manager is keen to take things game by game, but is this one you look at in the calendar at the start of the season as players?
De Gea: “It’s always a special game, to play at Anfield against Liverpool. It’s always nice. But I think again it’s just three points, the same as other games. It’s going to be a tough game for sure. Playing at Anfield is always very difficult, but we have confidence and we’ll take that confidence to the next games, go game-by-game and we can see another big game on Sunday.”

You’re both overseas players – to an overseas audience, do you think this is still the biggest fixture in English football?
Fernandes: “Yeah, obviously in Portugal it’s probably the biggest game that they see in the Premier League. I think everyone knows worldwide the importance of this game. I think one year ago, or two years ago, when we played them it was one of the games with the most streaming [viewers] on television, I remember that. We know how important it is also for our fanbase and we are together with them because it’s really important for us. Whatever is important for the club and for the fans, it is important in the same way for us. We want to win that game but as David said, it’s really important for us to understand that these kind of games are really special but they don’t give us more than three points.”

David, the reverse fixture saw us beat Liverpool 2-1 in August for our first win under Erik. How crucial do you think that was in terms of the season as a whole?
De Gea: “Yeah, it was a great game. I think we played really, really well and controlled the game. We didn’t concede many chances. Playing at home is great and the fans against Liverpool: it was a special day. Let’s try, of course [this time] it’s at Anfield, we don’t play at Old Trafford, but it’s a nice place to go and play your football and enjoy it. The away fans are always amazing and it’s a good time to play them so let’s go with everything and try to win the game.”

Bruno, David mentioned the fans there: how big would it be for us to get that win in front of those travelling supporters at Anfield on Sunday?
Fernandes: “As I said, we know how important these kind of games are for our fanbase and as important as it is for them, it is for us in the same way, because we want to give them as much joy as we can, as much happiness as we can. Happiness and joy is winning games, so winning at Anfield: we know what that will mean to our fanbase. We will do everything that we can to get the three points in that game.”