LIVERPOOL -- Jurgen Klopp believes Manchester United are a "different side" to the one his Liverpool team played in October.
The two teams played out an uneventful 0-0 draw at Anfield, with Jose Mourinho opting to deploy tactics aimed at frustrating the free-scoring home side.
On that night, United recorded 35 percent possession, which represented the lowest possession stats they have ever registered since Opta began collecting data.
However, since then Mourinho's side have been on an excellent run of form and are looking to secure their 10th consecutive win in all competitions on Sunday.
"They are better, more used to each to other I would say," Klopp told a news conference at Melwood on Friday afternoon. "I think Henrikh Mkhitaryan is an important example of that.
"I don't know if he was injured, or not in the squad, when they played us, and it took a little time, but now they can obviously use his quality.
"They are more confident -- they are a different side. The quality of the players was never in doubt even when they played at Anfield, but they were not that in tune then, now they are."
The match will be Klopp's second visit to Old Trafford as Liverpool manager after his side progressed to the quarterfinals of the Europa League there last season.
Klopp insists he is excited for the occasion, despite the match coming just four days after Liverpool's defeat at Southampton in the first leg of the EFL Cup semifinals.
"When I woke up in the morning and thought about why I was in that good shape, then I realised 'oh yes, only two days [until the game],'" he said.
"So it's good. I hear it in your questions, I hear it when I speak to other people that because of our last game, it's like 'oh my God, now Man United!' But give me 11 players and we will be competitive. That's the plan.
"These are not just some players, they are my players and we know a lot about each other and I know how they react to performances that were not that good.
"The last game doesn't make us weaker, it makes us stronger to be ready for this game. It's not about being confident before the game, it's about getting confidence in the game."
Liverpool have failed to score in their last two matches, and when asked what was required to pick up a positive result, Klopp responded: "If something doesn't work, you have to think about it. Was it because of [something], or did it only happen? It is a mixture.
"We know what we have to do to create more chances, but especially ahead of the United game we don't have to think too much about dominance and all that stuff. We need to think about different things and that's what we [have done]."