Premier League: Manchester United players gear up for Liverpool clash...at a car park

Hours before the high-octane clash between Liverpool and Manchester United at the Anfield on Monday, members of the visiting side were seen warming up at a car park. According to a report on The Daily Mail, the Red Devils were seen gearing up for the much-hyped duel by stretching at a car park outside the Titanic Hotel before visiting the city centre. It’s certainly not the first time that newly-appointed United boss Jose Mourinho has employed the tactic — he made the players sweat it out in a similar location ahead of the English League Cup tie against Northampton, as per a report on The Telegraph. [caption id=“attachment_3057302” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Manchester United players practice at the car park ahead of their clash against Liverpool. Image courtesy: iCelebTV.com[/caption] Among those pictured at the practice session in the car park was out-for-form striker Wayne Rooney. His selection in the upcoming tie is an uncertain one, with Mourinho insisting on picking players on recent performances, and not simply on the basis of past glory. Rooney could well be left on the bench again by Portuguese boss when United face bitter rivals Liverpool at Anfield on Monday night. Liverpool, who are three points ahead of United in the table, knocked United out of the Europa League last season but have not beaten them in domestic competition since March 2014. Liverpool go into Monday’s game  seeking to end a run of four straight league defeats against their bitter northwest rivals. Klopp, whose team left it late to gain a 2-1 victory at Swansea in their last league match, is hopeful that Georginio Wijnaldum (hip) and Adam Lallana (groin) will recover from injury problems in time to feature on Monday. Mourinho is hopeful that left-back Luke Shaw (groin) and midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan (thigh) will be available to play at Anfield following their recent injuries. United suffered a run of three successive defeats last month, followed by consecutive wins across three competitions against Northampton, Leicester and Zorya Luhansk which calmed the panic. However, a 1-1 draw at home to Stoke before the international break stalled the recovery. Mourinho, who has won one and lost three of his previous five meetings with Klopp, will hope for an improvement at Anfield. The fixture is widely regarded by supporters and players as fiercer and more important than the clubs’ respective city derbies. Both teams have enjoyed dominant periods in the top flight –  Liverpool before the dawn of the Premier League – but now are bidding to recapture past glory after relatively fallow periods. “It will be a tough game. United are a good team who have some very good players and a top manager. We need to be ready and prepared for anything that is thrown at us,” Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson was quoted as saying to Reuters. (With inputs from agencies)