Ole Gunnar Solskjaer insists a Manchester United win at Liverpool on Sunday would be a "shock" despite his team going into the match ahead of the Reds at the Premier League summit.
United and Liverpool have not faced each other as the Premier League's top two since April 1997. While Tottenham and Leicester City could potentially move above Jurgen Klopp's men before they clash at Anfield, it still highlights how rare it has been for both clubs to be fighting near the summit at the same time.
Liverpool were the last team to inflict an away defeat on United in the Premier League, as they emerged 2-0 victors in January last year - the Red Devils have since gone 15 unbeaten on the road, drawing just twice.
At that point, Liverpool moved 30 points clear of United in the league, but this time around require a victory to just go level with them.
But for all the positivity and momentum sweeping through United, Solskjaer is remaining reserved and realistic, putting the pressure back on Liverpool as he is adamant an away win would be an upset given the fact the Reds have not lost in their past 67 home league games, a run that stretches back to April 2017.
"The next one is always the biggest, most important," Solskjaer told reporters when asked if this was the biggest game of his managerial career.
"Being of course where we are in the league, that gives us more confidence, it's a sign, indication of where we're at.
"But it's a game versus the champions, they've an amazing record at Anfield, not lost there in the league for many years, so it's a great test for us. Can we go there and cause an upset?"
Solskjaer was pressed on that assertion again soon after, with the Norwegian asked if it could really be considered a shock if a United side top of the league beat Liverpool.
"If you look at the last few seasons, it would be an upset, it would be a shock," he insisted.
"I think our position at the moment is a product of all the hard work we have done in the training ground, what the players are putting down every single day.
"We probably deserve to be where we are at the moment, but I don't think many would have thought of another word [other than upset] for us beating Liverpool at Anfield if you go six weeks back. But we are looking forward to it and hopefully we can cause an upset."
Solskjaer also addressed the gulf in points between the sides after their previous meeting, suggesting it was an unfair reflection of the difference between the two.
However, he believes his side is far better equipped 12 months on.
"Of course, we're a much better side now than a year ago but then we lost that game to a [Virgil] van Dijk header from a corner and counter-attack at the last kick of the game from our corner," he said.
"So, I don't think we were a million miles away from them then either, I think that's a misperception that people said that. We did have some moments in that game ourselves.
"Of course, the league position shows we are competitive, we are up there with six, seven or eight other teams, it's a tighter season this year. The last few years there have been two teams running away with it by the end of October, now at least we are in it, so we're halfway."
Port Vale’s Carabao Cup progress is reward for a lot of things – Andy Crosby
Port Vale boss Andy Crosby feels his side’s place in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup is “reward for a lot of things”.
Vale reached the last 16 for the first time since 2006-07 with a 2-1 victory over Sky Bet League Two strugglers Sutton, with Funso Ojo coming off the bench to fire home a superb winner.
Swansea loanee Josh Thomas had earlier opened the scoring before his effort was cancelled out by Sutton substitute Hisham Kasimu.
Crosby said: “When you start in the first round of the Carabao Cup you want to go as far as you can.
“Every time you get through to the next round, you want to get through to the next one.
“That’s what we’ve done. We’re in the fourth round for the first time in a long time for the football club.
“It’s reward for a lot of things. It’s reward for Carol and Kevin (Shanahan) for investing the amount of money they do into the football club.
“It’s brilliant for our supporters, who haven’t seen the club in the fourth round for a long time. They keep turning up and I thank them a lot for the support.
“I think we have to preach to them what we’re trying to do. It might be different from what they’ve seen before. There may be some frustration at times with what we’re trying to do, but we have to play a way that suits our team.
“That’s going to take time, but when we get to utopia and we’re playing incredible football with and without the ball. We’re making progress.”
Sutton boss Matt Gray was left with mixed emotions after his spirited side were sucker-punched by the late winner.
He said: “There were so many things I was happy with, apart from the result sadly.
“It’s a result I don’t think we deserved.
“They couldn’t break us down when we were in our shape, so to concede a goal from a counter-attack from a corner is a hard one to take.
“It’s something we’ll be looking at, it’s really frustrating.
“It was a great response from their goal. We had some great chances. We had to bide our time and eventually got the goal.
“It felt a little bit similar to the first goal. We were pushing forward and got done on the break which was very disappointing.
“We’ve not had some good league results, we’re working tirelessly to get things right and we saw some positives on the pitch.
“We need to keep working on that, building on that and I’m sure the results will turn soon.
“You can see that from the fans’ reaction at the end. They’re completely with us.”
Barcelona twice come from behind but have to settle for a point in Mallorca
LaLiga leaders Barcelona twice had to battle from behind as Fermin Lopez’s first goal for the club earned a hard-fought draw at Real Mallorca.
Xavi’s side have been the early pacesetters as they look to defend their league title but the visitors had to settle for a 2-2 draw at the Iberostar Stadium.
Vedat Muriqi and Abdon Prats goals had twice had the hosts in front but Raphinha cancelled out the opener before substitute Lopez struck to earn Barca a share of the spoils.
Mallorca were all but presented with the opening goal with just eight minutes gone as Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen gifted possession to Antonio Sanchez, who teed up Muriqi to break the deadlock.
Raphinha’s third goal of the season – a fine long-range strike – levelled the scores, only for Abdon to score in first-half stoppage time.
With the visitors chasing the game once more, Joao Felix hit the woodwork as Xavi’s side continued to threaten.
Their second equaliser of the evening would come with 15 minutes left on the clock, Lopez scoring his first senior goal for Barcelona having come off the bench shortly after the hour.
Despite pulling level on two occasions, Barca could not find a breakthrough to seal all three points and could now fall below both Real Madrid and Girona, who are in action on Wednesday against Las Palmas and Villarreal, respectively.
Rob Edwards rues Luton’s lack of attacking quality after Carabao Cup exit
Luton boss Rob Edwards admitted his side deserved to be on the end of an upset as they crashed out of the Carabao Cup with a 1-0 defeat at Exeter.
Demetri Mitchell scored the only goal of the game in the 83rd minute, poking in from close range from Yanic Wildschut’s cross, before he was sent off two minutes from time after collecting a second yellow card.
Toothless Luton, who made 10 changes from their Premier League draw with Wolves, rarely troubled League One Exeter, who reached round four for the first time since 1989 and claimed their first top-flight scalp since beating Leicester in the FA Cup back in 1981.
Edwards said: “It was a disappointing night for us clearly. Congratulations to Exeter, I have got to say that. With all of the possession we had tonight, we didn’t look like we were going to score.
“We need to be better, more aggressive, more clinical and have more desire to create chances and, when we do, be more ruthless.
“We can’t keep saying the same things at the moment. We have been sucker-punched out of a mistake on our part and we have not had the quality or desire to get the ball over the line and ultimately we got punished and don’t deserve to go through.
“I do want more. There wasn’t a lack of commitment or effort, I would never label that at our group, but I want to see more quality in that final third.
“As the game started opening up, we started to cause more problems for them, but they defended the box very well with high numbers and that is difficult to break down.
“We wanted to go deep into the competition, but we needed to make the changes we made.”
Exeter manager Gary Caldwell hailed a magnificent “team effort” from his side.
“I am really proud of the players, they were absolutely incredible tonight,” Caldwell said. “We had to come up with a game plan and we had one day to work on it and they performed it to the letter.
“In the beginning, I thought we understood it, but we weren’t quite aggressive enough and, as the game wore on, we got better, they got more frustrated and it was an amazing win.
“Full credit to the players for the effort, the desire to not concede, to fight for the team, to fight for each other – it was unbelievable.
“I said we were hoping for a special night under the lights at St James Park and I think we got it.
“Everyone was amazing tonight, the finishers that came on as well. It was a real team effort tonight and everyone deserves credit.
“This stadium is special and we want anyone to come here and we believe that, on our day, when we get it right, then we can be a real match for anyone.
“That’s the spirit and belief I want to get into these players and tonight will give them confidence.”
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