Martial: The Goal That Announced My Arrival

For Anthony Martial, Manchester United v Liverpool will always be a standout fixture, given it was the September 2015 meeting between the sides in which the French forward burst onto the English football scene.

Martial announced himself to the Old Trafford faithful in some style, scoring a brilliant goal in front of the Stretford End to seal an excellent victory over his new club's old rivals. In an exclusive interview for this Saturday's United Review, it's clear that magic moment remains firmly in the striker's memory.

"For sure, that was a very big game, both for me and the team," he recalls in the official matchday programme. "I think it’s my most important goal so far. It’s the goal that really announced my arrival and the goal that gave me that strength to be able to establish myself at United from the word go."

In his first season with the Reds, Martial was the team's top scorer, bagging 17 times in all competitions, as well as winning the Premier League’s Player of the Month award for September 2015. A more difficult season followed, with the Frenchman netting just four times in the league, but his current third campaign at the club has brought a return to form with nine strikes to his name so far in 2017/18.

"I’ve had a decent season up to now, but it’s all about me now keeping that going and trying to do even better," he assessed.

"I think I did well in January and February. I’ve featured slightly less recently but I have still been feeling still feel really good in myself."

Martial was speaking before it emerged that he could miss the match, with Jose Mourinho telling MUTV on Friday afternoon that his squad is "basically the same" as the one that earned a thrilling win at Crystal Palace on Monday night - when Anthony was absent through injury. The striker may therefore be limited to watching the blockbuster clash between England's two most successful clubs, something he used to do in France.

"We always knew that United against Liverpool was a big derby game," he said, recalling his days of following the fixture on French TV.

"It really is the game where there is that extra edge and that extra tension and usually lots of goals too."

Going into this weekend’s fixture, the two clubs are vying for the runners-up spot behind runaway leaders Manchester City and are just two points apart at present. Martial realises it will be a tough test, telling United Review, "Liverpool are in great form right now, they’ve got some excellent attacking players.

"What we have to do is keep a close eye on them and to then play our own game, because we can cause problems for any team.

“Without a doubt, a win would be big for us. And what’s more, we’re at Old Trafford so all our fans will be driving us on, so if we can win, it will be a nice celebration.”