Jose Mourinho urges Manchester United fans to "improve" for Liverpool showdown

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has called on the supporters to "improve" for this Sunday's Premier League showdown against arch rivals Liverpool.

The Portuguese coach was not completely satisfied with the atmosphere at Old Trafford during Tuesday night's EFL Cup semi-final first-leg win over Hull City.

The Red Devils scored twice through Juan Mata and Marouane Fellaini to give themselves a strong advantage heading into the second leg, but it took just under an hour for the team to get off the mark.

As well as telling the fans to improve, Mourinho believes that he as well as the players need to up their game for the visit of Jurgen Klopp and his men.

"Maybe I didn't do my job well - maybe I should have brought more tension to the dynamic to prepare the game," The Guardian quotes Mourinho as saying. "The players have to improve, I have to improve, the fans, I'm sorry, have to improve.

"We are responsible for fans' participation in the game. If we play very well, enthusiastically the fans - they come to the pitch to play with us. We have amazing fans, what I feel is Sunday is a special match for us. Special match for the Man United fans. So my invitation is don't come to the theatre, come to play, play with us."

The triumph over Hull stretched United's winning run to nine in all competitions.