Erik ten Hag: Manchester United have been better than Liverpool since I arrived

Erik ten Hag has said Manchester United have been superior to Liverpool since his arrival at Old Trafford, ahead of Sunday’s showdown between the two rivals.

United endured their worst Premier League campaign last season when they finished eighth, 22 points behind their third-placed Merseyside rivals.

However, in terms of silverware over the past two campaigns, United’s tally of two trophies – the Carabao Cup in ­2022-23 and FA Cup last season – betters ­Liverpool’s Carabao Cup triumph last season.

Despite starting this season with an unconvincing win over Fulham and a defeat by Brighton, Ten Hag is convinced he is on course to add another trophy-winning season to his CV – after winning three Eredivisie titles and two Dutch Cups in his spell at Ajax.

“Listen, behind City we won the most trophies over the last two years so we performed better than anyone else,” Ten Hag said in a defiant defence of his turbulent spell in charge at Old Trafford.

“That’s the reality, those are the facts. This year we want to win trophies and I am quite confident we will build to this.

“That is what I have done for the last 11 years so I am just patient and waiting. We will work on the process, we have to improve the process and aim for our next targets, which is going for trophies.”

The two performances so far this season have left plenty of question marks about United, but Ten Hag insists his team have improved on and off the field.

‘As far as I know, fans are happy with me’

“I don’t care if I get the credit or I don’t get the credit, ” he said. “I had to build this club, we brought young players in, we progressed young players, we won trophies, so what can I do more?

“As far as I know, the fans are happy with me, but it’s not about me, it’s about Manchester United, and of course we set higher targets, we have very high ambitions, the club, the leadership, the team definitely, so everyone they see the potential, and now we have to work very hard to achieve the targets.

“The fans are ready together with us to take the fire, to take this good challenge. We are all excited, the fans are excited, the team is excited and together we will go for it.”

‘It’s always big when you win against rivals’

Liverpool, meanwhile, will be looking for revenge after two results at Old Trafford in a three-week spell ended their quadruple ambitions last season – the FA Cup defeat and the draw that damaged their league title hopes. They were two games that Andy Robertson said they should have won.

“Obviously we’ve moved on from that but what happened there last season did hurt,” the Scotland defender said.

“The 4-3 game [in the FA Cup] we dominated for a large part and we believed we played good enough to win the game.

“And in the league game, if we were a bit more clinical we would have got the three points. But sometimes these things go against you and it was unfortunate.

“But it was other results that cost us in the end. At the start of the season, if you’re told you’re going to draw at Old Trafford, you wouldn’t put that down too not finishing top. Other results did that.

“We go there having started the season well and we just hope we can continue that good form. It’s always big when you win against your rivals, especially away from home.”