‘I’m Really Happy’: Jurgen Klopp Explains Why Marcus Rashford Form Gives Him Joy

Jurgen Klopp has said he is delighted to see Marcus Rashford is playing incredibly well and thinks the England international is in the form of his life.

The Liverpool manager accepted he is rarely happy to see Manchester United players excelling ahead of the latest instalment of the Premier League’s greatest rivalry.

but has made an exception for Rashford, who had the worst season of his career last year and has now already made this most prolific campaign.

Rashford only scored five goals for United last season and has 25 already, the first of them in a 2-1 win over Liverpool in August and the most recent in their Carabao Cup final victory. Klopp has long praised Rashford, including for his campaign to ensure children from poorer backgrounds got free school meals in 2020.

And he said: “Rashford is in the form of his life and for sure influenced by Erik ten Hag. It is pretty much impossible to be positive about something at Manchester United when you at the Liverpool manager for seven-and-a-half years but I am really happy for Rashford.

“He had a really difficult last year and was not performing at the level he is able to and I knew this would change again and now he is playing incredible, [with] his speed and technique, how calm he is in front of goal. He scores worldies, he scores the simple ones.”

Liverpool beat United 5-0 and 4-0 last season but Ten Hag’s team won 2-1 at Old Trafford earlier this season and are 10 points ahead of Klopp’s side.

But the German believes the table is irrelevant this weekend. He added: “Thank God nobody talks about the results we had against them last year. They play a better season than us so far but thank God that means absolutely nothing for the game on Sunday.”