Turning up to the home of the unbeaten Premier League leaders was never going to be an easy task. And even despite Manchester United being the only team this season to have stopped Liverpool from winning in the top-flight when they drew 1-1 earlier on in the season, claiming a massive result at Anfield was a daunting prospect nonetheless.
And so it proved. The Red Devils succumbed to a 2-0 defeat to their arch-rivals, and suffered the ignominy of having to hear the Reds faithful sing about winning the league right at the death. Talk about rubbing it in. But whilst the score-line appears to paint a story of a game that was incredibly close in nature, that couldn’t have been further from the truth. Speaking after the game, Liverpool legend and Sky Sports pundit expressed that there was a “gulf in class” between the two sides.
As per Sofascore, the Merseyside club dominated in all the important areas: they had more shots, passes, crosses and dribbles. Not to mention they won more ground and aerial duels too. But whilst Liverpool’s superior quality on the pitch no doubt told, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer certainly didn’t help his side with his tactical set-up.
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Having gone with a 5-3-2 formation to mirror what he had gone for in the previous encounter at Old Trafford, Solskjaer seemed to think his team could replicate the way they played on that day. The logic may well have been that considering they claimed a draw against the Reds in the reverse fixture, the tactical switch could once again reap its rewards.
But the Norwegian showed his inexperience by simply failing to take into account the injuries on both sides, and how Liverpool were likely to set up. Mohamed Salah missed the game at Old Trafford, but Solskjaer would surely have known the Egypt international would be starting alongside Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane on Sunday.
Playing a back-five played into the Reds’ hands, as it essentially meant their much-vaunted front-three could play right up against United’s three central defenders. It was a case of one vs one, and left United’s wing-backs in a world of bother too. They didn’t know whether to stick with the two wingers or stay with Liverpool’s two full-backs in Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson. It was no surprise therefore to see both Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Brandon Williams win less than half their total duels, and lose possession a combined 24 times.
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Mane and Salah racked up a total of eight shots on goal between themselves – just one shy of United’s total of nine. Solskjaer’s tactical tweak invited Liverpool to come on to them, and with no Marcus Rashford to help with the counter-attack, any time they tried to go a bit more direct and quickly into the Reds’ half, they were instantly shut down and on the back foot once more.
It was a case of the United boss waving the white flag even before the contest began, and he can have no complaints that they ended up with nothing.
