Lindelof: We want consistency

The Reds currently sit fifth in the league, and host top-four rivals Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday evening, looking to bounce back from last weekend’s dispiriting derby defeat.

Though Ralf Rangnick’s side currently trail fourth-placed Arsenal by a point – and the Gunners have three games in hand – there is still a belief that the team’s destiny is in our own hands, and Lindelof believes the route to success is consistency.

“We haven’t been consistent enough. That’s just the truth. We have to be more consistent with our performances,” he explained to our matchday programme United Review.

“You can’t win one game, then draw one, win one... we really need to find that consistency in our performances. In the last home game [against Watford], we kept a clean sheet, but we didn’t manage to score any goals. Like I say, we just need to be a little bit more consistent with that because for me, as a defender and as a team, we know that if we keep a clean sheet, we have the quality up front to score goals so, hopefully, we can just find that rhythm and win some games on the bounce.

“You always want to play Champions League football and we always try to focus on our objective. That’s what we want to achieve.”

Tottenham will come to Manchester at the weekend off the back of a 5-0 victory over struggling Everton, but the north Londoners’ own form has been quite up and down.

While they’ve beaten Manchester City and scored nine goals in two games against Leeds United and Everton, Antonio Conte’s side have also lost to Middlesbrough, Burnley, Southampton and Wolves in their last seven matches.

“It’s going to be a tough game like always,” Lindelof said.

“They have really good players. They’ve been having some good performances, and maybe some games not the best, but it’s going to be a very, very hard game and we really need to be at our best to get the three points.

"I think, like always, you’re just trying to focus on the next game. That’s very, very, important, to stay focused on what’s next. You can’t really think too far ahead. So, of course, our focus now is on the next game, and I think that’s just how it should be."