Manchester United returned to the scene of the crime and removed all evidence of the spinelessness and unprofessionalism that besmirched their last appearance at Anfield. Erik ten Hag’s team were defiant, disciplined and unified, everything they were not in the 7-0 rout in fact, in taking a point against Liverpool. United made a point, too: the dressing room still plays for its manager.
United became the first team to stop Liverpool winning at Anfield this season and the first to prevent Jürgen Klopp’s side scoring since Chelsea held them to a goalless draw in April. Liverpool could have set a club record of scoring in 35 consecutive games in all competitions but, against a defence marshalled expertly by Raphaël Varane, were found wanting here with the final ball or decision. Diogo Dalot’s dismissal for two shows of dissent in quick succession came too late to take advantage.
Klopp disliked the pre-match talk of another Liverpool landslide. He feared, correctly as it transpired, that United would be inspired not scarred by their harrowing Anfield experience last season. He liked the outcome even less as Liverpool’s run of 11 successive home wins was halted by a resolute United performance in front of Anfield’s biggest crowd for more than half a century. An extra 7,000 seats were available in the upper tier of the new Anfield Road stand for the first time. There were an extra 7,000 groans of frustration as Liverpool missed the chance to return to the Premier League summit.
For Ten Hag, the 212th meeting between the clubs delivered the reaction he required following after United’s meek midweek exit from the Champions League. It could have been perfect had his visitors capitalised on several promising counter‑attacks in the second half – Rasmus Højlund failed to take the best opening of the match – but there was no denying Liverpool’s overall dominance.
The United manager was hindered by an injury list that included three central defenders – Harry Maguire, Lisandro Martínez and Victor Lindelöf. Bruno Fernandes’s suspension and the ill Anthony Martial reduced his options further. Even so, the ramshackle nature of United’s starting lineup and inexperience on their bench reinforced how badly the club has recruited at vast expense in recent years.
There was a sense of achievement for the visitors in getting to half-time goalless, although their authority increased as Liverpool’s attempts fell flat.
Klopp had vowed that Liverpool would “go for them” in an attempt to prey on any lingering anxieties from the record victory last season. He wasn’t lying. Liverpool won the first corner after 26 seconds. There was a tumultuous roar when Ryan Gravenberch pressed Sofyan Amrabat into submission in a United corner. Højlund had to help Luke Shaw at left‑back long before making his presence felt in the Liverpool half.
There was intensity and constant pressure from the home side, forcing United into desperate defensive actions from the first whistle, but too many wayward final balls enabled the visitors to ride the storm in the first half. André Onana escaped when dropping a Ryan Gravenberch header under pressure to Mohamed Salah, and reacting to turn his scrambled shot wide, but was only seriously tested by Virgil van Dijk’s header from Trent Alexander-Arnold’s corner. The United keeper tipped over from close range. Onana’s biggest contribution was to the palpitations among the away fans whenever playing out with his feet.
The lack of composure in Liverpool’s first-half performance was encapsulated by the first booking of the contest for Darwin Núñez. The Uruguay international raised an arm into the chest of Jonny Evans when pursuing a long ball out of defence and was booked for kicking the ball away after the blatant free-kick was awarded. He then sarcastically applauded the assistant referee. The foul on Evans was more deserving of a yellow card than the offence for which Núñez was cautioned. Dalot’s dismissal for two bookable offences in the same incident, when he rightly argued for a United throw-in, was harsh in comparison.
United were reliant on the counterattack to hurt Liverpool. They might have succeeded with more quality, confidence and intelligence in their front line, particularly in the second half when the visitors had ample opportunity to expose Liverpool’s defence.
Antony was again infuriatingly wasteful, quicker to blame others for his mistakes than to spot the right pass. The largely anonymous Alejandro Garnacho was played through by a delightful ball from Kobbie Mainoo but unable to hold off Alexander-Arnold as he entered the penalty area. The Liverpool vice-captain intervened with a vital touch. Antony was involved in a flowing United move that ended with Scott McTominay, captain in the absence of Fernandes, releasing Højlund behind Van Dijk. The chance to open his United league account when and where it really mattered presented itself to Højlund but Alisson blocked well with his chest and gathered the follow-up.
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Klopp’s team continued to pose the greater threat, however. Alexander-Arnold placed a shot inches wide from 25 yards with Onana stranded. The Cameroon international produced an assured second‑half performance, saving confidently from Salah, Ibrahima Konate and Nunez. United also survived a VAR review for handball against Shaw after Kostas Tsimikas’s cross bounced up on to the defender’s arm off his thigh. Dalot made a superb intervention to prevent Luis Díaz sweeping home from close range and, despite losing his cool to reduce United to 10 men, there was no fresh torment for Ten Hag at Anfield. United must build on this foundation.
