Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag wants Antony to replicate his performance against Chelsea when the club face arch-rivals Liverpool on Sunday afternoon.
The Red Devils suffered a shock 4-3 defeat to the Blues at Stamford Bridge on Thursday. They were leading 3-2 in the closing minutes before succumbing to a surprise loss.
Despite the defeat, there were some positives from the game. Alejandro Garnacho was back to his scoring best for the club. He found the back of the net in either half.
Meanwhile, Antony also had a solid performance in west London. He conceded an early penalty, but made amends with a brilliant trivela assist for Garnacho’s second goal.
Aside from this, he won 100 per cent of his dribbles (6/6) and 100 per cent of his tackles (2/2). The Brazilian also made eight recoveries and won an impressive nine duels.
Antony definitely had his best game of the season for United. He capped the display with his first goal contribution of the league campaign and Ten Hag wants to see more of the same.
He told Manutd.com: “I know he’s capable of it. I’ve seen it so often, when I was manager of Ajax, but we haven’t seen this. Maybe in the start [of Antony’s United career] we’ve seen a glimpse.”
“In the first three games when he scored three goals, but after that, [only] incidentally, like against Barcelona last season when he scored the winning goal, but he’s capable of it. Yesterday night [Thursday], I saw the Antony I want to see.”
United suffered a huge setback in their Champions League pursuit following the loss at Chelsea. However, they still have an outside chance of qualifying for the competition.
They are currently 12 points adrift of Aston Villa in fourth, but the Midlands outfit have played two games more. Fifth place could also be enough to secure qualification.
Hence, the club still have plenty to play for in the Premier League. They must turn up with a strong performance and a victory tomorrow despite the defensive crisis.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com & Sofascore.com
