DIRK: WE OWE THE FANS A BIG ONE
Jimmy Rice 28 February 2007
Dirk Kuyt admits he and his teammates owe the fans a big performance against Manchester United on Saturday to make amends for their disappointing defeat at Old Trafford earlier in the season.
The Reds lost 2-0 in October and Kuyt believes a vintage display is required to banish the painful memories.
"I think we owe a performance after Old Trafford. That was a disappointing time and we definitely want a better result at Anfield this time," said the Dutchman.
"It would be a great result for us if we could do it. We just need to go and approach the game as we've done in the last week.
"If you can beat a side like Barcelona with players of the quality of Messi and Ronaldinho, you know you can beat a lot of teams.
"We've come back from Barcelona and done a good job at the weekend with a win and a clean sheet. Now we want to beat United.
"We've beaten Chelsea at home and Barcelona away, so now we can have confidence to progress by beating Manchester United.
"It's one of the most important games you can play in the season, so no-one can be thinking about Barcelona until after this game.
"We're in a situation where we don't need to worry about finishing second or the teams behind us.
"We just need to keep focused on winning our own games, not thinking of Chelsea, Arsenal or Bolton. There would be nothing better than beating United."
Kuyt will face friend and Dutch teammate Edwin van der Sar, who he ranks as the best keeper in the world.
"It will be particularly good for me to play against Edwin," said Kuyt. "He's a legend in Holland and if you can score against him, you can score against anyone in the world."
