Bryan Robson sees storms ahead for De Gea in Anfield clash

There were few players better suited to a fixture between Manchester United and Liverpool than Bryan Robson.

For over a decade, Captain Marvel was in the thick of the action as English football’s two biggest rivals went head-to-head.

If there were tackles to be made and challenges to be won, Robson was always ready for the battle.

So he speaks with authority when he warns that the current Manchester United players must be prepared to cope with an Anfield storm this lunchtime.

The ex-England captain admits that United will know what to expect from Liverpool, but the big question is dealing with it.

“The one thing you know is that Liverpool will fly out of the traps,” says Robson, who will be captaining a United Legends team against their Bayern Munich counterparts in June to raise money for the Manchester United Foundation.

“They have Lallana, Sterling and Sturridge, who are such quick, dangerous players. They have loads of energy and all look really bright at the moment.

“So you have to be on the front foot yourselves and be ready to expect a really quick pace at the beginning of the game. If you stand up to that, then you can get a foothold later on.

“It’s a question of mentality. If you start off on the back foot with negative thoughts, the other team will dominate the game and if they score, it makes things really difficult.

“It has always been the same going to Anfield. You know they will fly out at you because their fans expect that.

“So you have to be on the front foot and ready to expect a frantic pace. If you do, you can stand up to Liverpool.”

United head over to Merseyside with a slender two-point advantage over the Reds in the race for a top-four finish.

Their football hasn’t always been convincing, but in David de Gea, they have had an incredible last line of defence.

The Spanish goalkeeper has earned his side countless points and won plenty of Man-of-the-Match displays by pulling off so many fantastic saves.

It is a far cry from the scrawny youngster who arrived at United in 2011 and looked ill-suited to Premier League football.

Robson, who spent three seasons with the legendary Peter Schmeichel as his goalkeeper, has been delighted with how De Gea has progressed.

And he would love to see the 24-year-old tied down to a new long-term contract to ward off any potential advances from Real Madrid.

“David has strengthened up from when he first came in and he has had an outstanding season,” he assesses.

“Our former goalkeeping coach, Eric Steele, always said that he was a little bit weak at first but there was fantastic ability.

“Now he’s strengthened up, Eric has been proved right. He is improving all the time and, with a little bit more experience, you can see him becoming an absolutely top-drawer goalkeeper.

“The defenders know they can rely on him, but you don’t want to rely on him too much.

“There was an improvement against Tottenham and that was one of the first games where we didn’t look like we were going to concede a goal.

“It’s now up to the club’s hierarchy to keep the lad. But as a Manchester United person, you would like to see a top-class keeper like David stay here.”