Liverpool great Robbie Fowler says Ole Gunnar Solskjaer deserves respect for his work at Manchester United.

Ahead of Liverpool's trip to Old Trafford, Fowler wrote for the Mirror: "One thing I always had for Sir Alex ­Ferguson's United, even when they were making life so hard for a Liverpool lad, was respect.

"They were successful and totally earned and deserved that success, and I never begrudged them that. So I wouldn't begrudge them now, under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

"Football is about opinions, but it's more about results. In fact, it's only about results – and he's got them, playing a ­variety of ways.

"That speaks volumes for him and what he has achieved as a manager under real pressure.

"He's earned the right to respect.

"And you know what it's also done – earned United a real chance of closing the gap to City even more.

"For years now, we've been saying United are a few players away from being a proper team, from being genuine contenders.

"They still are... but now they've made those two or three missing pieces more ­accessible and available.

"Players will look at what they've done this season in getting to the verge of a ­European final, and getting closer to City than anyone else, and believe they can be the final piece in that ­particular ­jigsaw.

"They can be tempted to go there.

"I like how they look."