Rio Ferdinand has said that Liverpool's expectations are rising - - but expectations are nothing new for Manchester United and their manager Jose Mourinho.
United host Liverpool in the Premier League at Old Trafford on Sunday, looking to cut the gap behind Jurgen Klopp's second-placed side from five points down to just two points.
Former United defender Ferdinand believes Liverpool's weakness is their defence -- although the Merseyside club have the attacking power to outscore sides.
"With the team that Klopp is building, the expectations are rising around Liverpool," he told the club's official website. "Expectations are nothing new for Jose Mourinho or United."
Discussing the way Klopp sets his team up, Ferdinand added: "They're great to watch. They play with verve; they have a direct, aggressive, quick, attacking mentality and attack in numbers. No matter which club you support, Liverpool under Klopp are a very good team to watch and that makes them dangerous.
"They're going to win games 3-2 or 4-3 and while I think, defensively, they have an Achilles heel, if they're going to outscore teams then they're going to be a big threat."
United go into the game on the back of a nine-match winning run in all competitions -- including six in the Premier League.
It means that Mourinho has finally banished the inconsistency seen earlier in the season, with with the upturn in form coming after Michael Carrick forced his way back into the first team.
Ferdinand said: "I think Jose has had one of the hardest jobs out of the top teams in terms of personnel, changing the mentality at the football club, going against the philosophy that had been drilled in over the last couple of years, reshuffling things, and it was a huge job for him. It still is.
"What he needed to do was find a formation and find the personnel to fit it. He's come across it, and the real crux of that was within the football club when he got there, and that's Michael Carrick. I said it under Louis van Gaal and David Moyes: Michael is so crucial to the football team."