Liverpool and Manchester United could not be having more different seasons.
While the Reds are flying high in the Premier League and lead the way by six points, United are struggling down in 12th.
As Liverpool take the Champions League by storm, their eternal rivals have been relegated to a spot in the Europa League.
And while new Liverpool head coach Arne Slot continues his smooth transition to life at Anfield, United’s Ruben Amorim has had the bumpiest of rides.
It always seems to be that the Reds and the Red Devils are never good at the same time. During Edwin van der Sar’s time at Old Trafford, it was United who were very much on top.
But having seen his compatriot Slot shining so brightly at Liverpool, Van der Sar has now had to make a ‘difficult’ admission about his former club’s biggest enemies.
Edwin van der Sar backs Liverpool for the Champions League
Van der Sar had a fantastic record of winning trophies during his six years as a United goalkeeper.
As well as being the penalty-shootout hero in the 2008 Champions League final, the Dutchman won four Premier League titles, two League Cups and a Club World Cup.
During that time, United pipped Liverpool to the title in the 2008/09 campaign and were generally miles ahead of the Reds.
But with the pendulum having swung once again, Van der Sar has admitted to whoscored.com that it is Liverpool who are his current favourites to win this year’s Champions League.
“Liverpool, but it was difficult to say that,” joked the 54-year-old when asked to pick who who thinks will win the trophy this season.
“There are a lot of Dutch people there, the manager is doing well, fantastic fans.”
Van der Sar lavishes praise on Virgil van Dijk
As well as backing Liverpool to become European champions for a seventh time, Van der Sar had further praise for the Reds, picking out captain Virgil van Dijk in particular.
The former keeper picked Van Dijk as his choice when asked which current centre-back he’d like to play behind.
“I think Virgil van Dijk would be nice because of his presence and his quality as a leader,” he answered. “And I would also need an Italian one.”
Given Liverpool’s reported interest in Jorrel Hato, fans may also be interested to hear that the former Ajax chief executive picked out the young defender as the next ‘top talent’ to come out of the Eredivisie.
“It depends if you’re in contact with any technical directors in the Premier League, then I’m not sure if I’m going to mention one!” he joked. “For me, it’s Jorrel Hato who plays at Ajax, I think he was the youngest player at 16 when he started, captain at 17. I think he has a great future ahead of him.”
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