What Alisson said about Andre Onana before United’s game against Liverpool

Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson has heaped praises on Manchester United number 1 Andre Onana ahead of the two sides’ clash at Anfield on Sunday.

The former Inter Milan keeper has not managed to establish himself as a reassuring presence between the sticks for United so far.

In many games, Onana has been a huge plus in possession for Erik ten Hag’s side and has made several great saves. In November, the Red Devils didn’t concede a single goal in three Premier League games. However, during the same period, he somehow lost all his composure in the Champions League and was a big reason why United let in seven goals in just two games against Copenhagen and Galatasaray.

There’s a lot the 27-year-old could learn from Alisson, who took the same route of moving to a huge English club from Italy. The Brazilian has been a reliable figure for Liverpool ever since his move from AS Roma in 2018.

Andre Onana praises Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana

This season as well, the 31-year-old has comfortably proven to be the best goalkeeper in the league so far. Liverpool’s backline will be heading into the weekend’s high-profile fixture knowing Alisson would be there to bail them out when needed. Onana has the same potential, and yet United centre-backs are unlikely to be as confident about their teammate between the sticks as their counterparts.

Ahead of Sunday’s game, Alisson shared his thoughts on Onana during his interview with The Guardian.

“Onana is a really good goalkeeper,” he said. “The way he performed in the Champions League last season was amazing. I went through something similar to what he is living now, coming from an Italian club to England, to a big club, for a lot of money. This is a lot of responsibility over your shoulders and he came here with the responsibility to be the replacement for [David] de Gea, who maybe was not in the best shape of his career but was still delivering. To replace him is a big step in your career.”

The Champions League winner went on to make an interesting point regarding the state of the two teams, adding his counterpart needs the support of everybody.

Perhaps therein lies the reason behind Onana’s struggles. When Alisson moved to Anfield, Liverpool were moving in the right direction and had everything in place for an elite goalkeeper to thrive, while Onana joined a side that is all over the place.

It would be interesting to see how much he is supported by his teammates on Sunday.