Jamie Redknapp Says Jose Mourinho to Be Sacked If United Lose to Liverpool

Jamie Redknapp has said it might be "inevitable" Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho will be dismissed if his side are beaten by Liverpool on Sunday. 

The traditional giants of English football meet in the Premier League at Anfield, with the Reds on top of the division after a great start to the campaign.

United have struggled to keep up with the top sides and reside in sixth as they chase the leading pack.

Defeat to Liverpool will leave the Red Devils 19 points behind their bitter rivals, and Redknapp said the potential loss would be too much for the Old Trafford giants to tolerate.

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Speaking to Sky Sports, Redknapp said:

"These sorts of games are season-definers. They are the ones that fans wait for. If United win, it will be, 'Wow, okay, we've got to give this guy more time. He can turn it around.'

"But if they lose it will become a situation where you have a snowball effect. The inquest will be so big afterwards and it might feel that it’s all becoming inevitable for Jose."

Redknapp added he thinks Liverpool will have "too much energy and speed" for the visitors to Merseyside, and Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino would be a "perfect" replacement for Mourinho if United could wrestle the manager away from Spurs.

Mourinho bemoaned his squad ahead of the clash and said in his pre-match press conference his team was far from ideal.

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Per BBC Sport, when asked if Liverpool's spending had taken them ahead of United, Mourinho said:

"It's not just about spending money and reinforcing the squad, a football team is more than that.

"It's like a house. it's not just about buying the furniture, you have to do work, you spend money on the best possible furniture and then you're ready to live in an amazing house."

United failed to provide Mourinho with the centre-back he craved in pre-season, and the lack of strengthening has caused a spiralling effect at Old Trafford.

The January transfer window offers the Red Devils a chance to bolster their squad, but the manager's long-term fate might be sealed with a loss against Jurgen Klopp's men.