‘It’s our sole focus’ – Manchester United only concentrating on Liverpool says Skinner | OneFootball

Manchester United head coach Marc Skinner says that his side are only focusing on their next game against Liverpool.

The Red Devils are now just seven days away from a Wembley return when they will contest the 2023/2024 Adobe Women’s FA Cup final with Tottenham Hotspur. Excitement is building ahead of that match but Manchester United have another important fixture against Liverpool at Prenton Park this afternoon as they continue their battle for fourth place in the Barclays Women’s Super League table.

When speaking in the pre-match press conference ahead of this afternoon’s fixture, Manchester United boss Skinner insisted that his side are only focusing on their next game. He also said that the outcome of the Liverpool game will have little impact on his side’s mentality going into a ‘one-off’ Adobe Women’s FA Cup final.

“The game next week is a one-off game,” Skinner said. “You get confidence from previous performances but it will be its own entity. This is our sole focus this week and it always has been because we go game-by-game.

“This game will be different [to Spurs] because we are going to have to find a lot of the resilient skills that we need in that. I don’t think this will be a pretty game by any means, there will be moments of quality.

“I don’t think it’ll affect what happens next week, good or bad, but we have to be prepared to put it all out [against Liverpool], that’s our sole focus this week.”

Liverpool defeated Chelsea 4-3 at Prenton Park in their last match. The Reds were deadly from set plays in that game and Skinner says that his side have to be prepared for the way that Liverpool attack balls coming into the box.

He said “The delivery was excellent, I felt the way that they attacked them was excellent. You can look at defensive structure but from Liverpool’s perspective, you’ve got to look at the way that they attack them, the hunger they showed for them.

“The last time we played Liverpool, we lost the game and it was on the fundamentals. [Sophie] Roman Haug was in the air, flicking it on and being direct. That’s not just what Liverpool are, they’re very good at playing the direct, mixing it up and their build-up is different to most in the league. We have to be alive to all of those.

“Matt [Beard] has put a team together that I’m sure he will want to grow on a consistent basis. It’s difficult to follow it up when you’ve had a really good season but with Matt in charge and their resources, they’ll have every chance to do that.

“We’ve got to be at our very best. We’ve got to be ready for all of the qualities that Liverpool throw at us.”

Manchester United’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture at Liverpool kicks-off at 2pm this afternoon.