Manchester United boss Solskjaer admits Salah is 'on fire' ahead of Liverpool clash

Premier League giants meet at Old Trafford on Sunday

Amad and Eric Bailly of Manchester United in action during a first team training session at Carrington Training Ground. All photos by Getty Images

Nemanja Matic of Manchester United in action during a first team training session at Carrington Training Ground in Manchester, England.

Edinson Cavani and Donny van de Beek of Manchester United in action during a first team training session at Carrington Training Ground.

Juan Mata and Alex Telles of Manchester United in action during a first team training session at Carrington Training Ground.

Paul Pogba of Manchester United in action during a first team training session at Carrington Training Ground.

Edinson Cavani of Manchester United in action during a first team training session at Carrington Training Ground.

Jadon Sancho of Manchester United in action during a first team training session at Carrington Training Ground.

Paul Pogba of Manchester United in action during a first team training session at Carrington Training Ground.

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah is in the form of his life ahead of Sunday's Premier League derby at Old Trafford.

Salah is top of the Premier League goalscorer charts with seven and also has four assists in eight games and five strikes in the Champions League.

Solskjaer praised Salah and also his teammates on the frontline - Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Diogo Jota.

"I'll always back Cristiano (Ronaldo) in any competition, he's unique and his goalscoring record is fantastic but that being said, Salah is on fire," Solskjaer said.

"You see some of the goals he's scored lately, we know we have to be at our best to defend against him. Players like him don't come along very often. We have to enjoy these players from afar - not Sunday, that's too close.

"Not just him, I'm a big admirer of their frontline for many, many years. Mane, Firmino, maybe Jota will play. They are players you should be focused on for 95 minutes to keep a clean sheet."

Salah's goals this season

Liverpool are the only unbeaten team in the league this season and have scored at least three goals in each of their last eight away games in all competitions.

"They're on a great run of form, some individual skills that you cannot almost defend against but as a team, we have to be compact and aggressive," Solskjaer added.

"It's going to take everything to get results against one of the best teams in Europe, in the world. Liverpool are one of those teams at the moment.

"What they've done the last four years is what we're striving towards. We ended up above them last season, they had a bad spell with injuries last year but are now back to their best."

Bruno Fernandes is in danger of missing the showdown with Liverpool through injury.

Portugal playmaker Fernandes is among several United players feeling the effects of Wednesday’s bruising Champions League contest against Atalanta.

Solskjaer confirmed some players had to sit out training on Friday, little more than 48 hours before United seek to halt their Premier League slide.

“Games like Wednesday night are always going to bring knocks and bruises,” Solskjaer said at his pre-match press conference.

“We do have two or three from that game. Bruno might be one of them that is a doubt, but he’s doing everything he can to be ready.”