Liverpool must look to combine patience with ruthlessness when they take on Manchester United on Saturday, Dejan Lovren feels.

This weekend’s clash at Old Trafford will pit the sides who currently sit second and third in the Premier League against each other.

Prior to making the short trip to Manchester, the Reds sit two points adrift of Jose Mourinho’s team with just nine top-flight games left to play this season.

As such, the match between the two arch-rivals is about much more than just bragging rights - and Lovren has explained what he views as key to securing a positive result.

“Like previous games - if everyone is compact, ready to fight. You know what you can expect there,” Lovren told teammate Virgil van Dijk, during an exclusive pre-match chat for Liverpoolfc.com at Melwood.

“It’s a massive game for us, for the fans, for everyone. We will maybe not have so many chances [as other games], but when we have the chances we need to score them. We also need to be patient - we don’t need to score in the first five minutes, of course everyone would like to but we have 90 minutes.

“When you see the table how we stand, fighting for second place, we know what we’re playing for, they know what they’re playing for, so it’ll be interesting to see what happens.”

LFCTV GO: Van Dijk and Lovren preview United clash

Liverpool head to Old Trafford in fine form and high spirits.

Jürgen Klopp’s side have lost just one of their last 20 Premier League games and advanced to the Champions League quarter-finals earlier this week by virtue of a 5-0 aggregate win over FC Porto.

And Lovren believes the Reds are ready to extend their streak of impressive recent performances and strengthen their push for a second-placed finish in the league on Saturday.

“At the moment, when you see the run we’re on - we’ve had fantastic results over the last six or seven games with four or five clean sheets - I think everyone within the squad feels comfortable and full of confidence,” the Croatia international said.

“When you see in recent years when we’ve played against Manchester United there, we’ve had some good results - but you never know. It’s always a big game, so you never know what to expect, but at the moment we feel ready.

“When you look, we still have nine league games to play and everything is open. There will definitely be still chances - but we will not go there and just sit back. We are an attacking team and I am really confident we can take something.”

This weekend will, of course, be Van Dijk’s first first-hand experience of the rivalry between Liverpool and United.

Lovren told his fellow centre-back: “It’s fantastic to go to Old Trafford as a Liverpool player, especially when you know what kind of atmosphere to expect there.

“I’ve played a couple of games with Liverpool there and it’s fantastic. You enjoy it and it’s one of the biggest games in the UK, in Europe. It’s great, especially if you can smile after the game with a win.”