Manchester United vs Liverpool: John Aldridge urges Jurgen Klopp's side to play without fear at Old Trafford

Former Liverpool striker John Aldridge has urged Jurgen Klopp's side to "play with no fear" when the Reds face Manchester United in the second leg of the Europa League clash at Old Trafford on 17 March. The Merseyside club enter the fixture with a 2-0 lead after beating their arch-rivals at Anfield.

Daniel Sturridge opened the scoring for Liverpool after he converted from a spot kick, before a mistake from Michael Carrick allowed Roberto Firmino to double the lead. The visitors are in a firm position to progress to the quarter-finals of the Europe's second tier club competition.

Aldridge remains confident his former club can make it to the last eight of the Europa League and stressed the importance of keeping a clean sheet in the first leg. However, he has warned Liverpool not to be complacent when they face Louis van Gaal's side on Thursday as they look to seal a berth in the quarter-finals.

"The message from Jurgen Klopp to his Liverpool players on Thursday night should be: 'Play with no fear.' We're in a great position to progress to the quarter-finals of the Europa League but there's still a lot of work to be done against Manchester United," Aldridge told the Liverpool Echo.

"Our recent record at Old Trafford is poor. We have lost eight of our last nine matches there. But this Liverpool side should have taken great encouragement from how we outplayed United at Anfield last week.

"There is nothing to be scared of. We've beaten United once and we can do it again. We have to go there, roll our sleeves up and be strong, both physically and mentally. A 2-0 lead is very useful but we can't afford to sit back and try to hold on to what we've got. That would be asking for trouble.

"We need to be on the front foot and looking to cause them problems. If we score then that kills the tie and United will be aware of that. The clean sheet we kept at Anfield was really important and our performance in the first leg was excellent.

"It certainly didn't feel like the last 16 of the Europa League. In fact it reminded me of the big Champions League nights against Chelsea. United simply couldn't handle it. The noise certainly inspired Liverpool and we were dominant throughout."