Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho preaches calm before entering Liverpool cauldron

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Jose Mourinho will not read too much into the result of Manchester United's trip to Anfield on Saturday, insisting that whether his side win or lose against Liverpool, one result will not define their season.

Only one goal separates United and leaders Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table, with the two neighbours looking likely to engage in a season-long tussle for the title.

Liverpool, meanwhile, are seven points back, already off the pace. Defeat on Saturday would raise severe doubts about the ability of Jurgen Klopp’s side to end the club’s long wait for a league title this year.

Mourinho, however, believes it is too early for any team to be ruled out of the running and that that a United victory at Anfield would only be the start of

“If you win you are not champions and if you lose you don't lose your chance to be champion,” Mourinho said. “I think this is a season made of moments, of ups and downs. You cannot win every match, and you have to be strong enough mentally, for both sides.

“If you win, you cannot leave Anfield like you won the Premier League, because you didn't, if you lose you cannot leave Anfield like you are going to be relegated, because that is a big problem.”

United scored just once when away to the Premier League’s top five last season, picking up just two points from a possible 15. At Anfield, Liverpool dominated but were frustrated by a Mourinho side intent on leaving with a clean sheet.

There is some suggestion that, in-keeping with his team’s early season performances, Mourinho will look to play a more expansive game on Saturday and the United manager himself claims to only have eyes for a victory.

“We go to play the game, we want to win the game, we know it's going to be very difficult, and sometimes in very difficult matches you get a point and you don't complain.

“It depends on the direction of the match. I drew matches where I was happy, I drew matches where I was not happy. It's only after the match you can say that, because at this moment you cannot predict.”Some of the most dramatic moments of

Mourinho’s career in English football have come at Anfield, with Luis Garcia’s ‘ghost goal’ which sent Liverpool to the 2005 Champions League final at Chelsea’s expense one of his more painful memories.

Mourinho took vengeance nine years later when, during his second spell at Chelsea, he shattered Liverpool’s hopes of winning their first league title in 24 years with a masterful 2-0 win in the closing stages of the 2013/14 campaign.

“I won big matches at Anfield, I lost big matches at Anfield. I left that stadium so happy, I left that stadium so sad,” he said. “Their supporters left that stadium in the direction of the Champions League final, and they left that stadium devastated because they lost a title, almost in the last game.

“This is football, this is the beauty of football and again, I like t play there because everything is good. Then, the result can be good or bad, but to play there is great. I did that with Chelsea and I did that once with Manchester United and I hope to play there many times more.