Our writers were at Anfield to witness history, joy and pain all in one go. Here’s all the reaction:
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Jürgen Klopp spoke to Sky.
First half it got a bit wild. But we scored an incredible goal, what a finish..second half, start pretty good and the finish was pretty good…It’s important that we really perform and all the guys come on and score, Bobby comes on and scores. Diogo [Jota] could have scored. All top performances. It was perfect. Everybody has to feel us, everybody has to know we are still around. That’s what we have to be from now on.
Mohamed Salah and Jordan Henderson spoke to Sky Sports.
Henderson: “Today you could see the energy levels. Today was a proper performance.”
Salah: “We need to stay humble. We are not in the position we want to be but hopefully it will give us a big push.”
Salah: [On his goalscoring record]: “It’s very special. I can’t lie. It was always in my head since I came here. I am going home with my family to have to camomile tea and celebrate.”
Henderson: “I’m really happy for Mo, it’s not a coincidence he gets these numbers. He dedicates his life to football. He is always the first one in and the last one out.”
Some reaction from Roy Keane on Sky Sports.
I never thought United were back to their very best. They’ve had some very good results. They’ve been giving teams chances - Leicester at home, West Ham. Teams have let them off the hook.
Liverpool didn’t let them off the hook and punished them. That’s where they were deserve credit. They were clinical, ruthless. They kept going and wanted more goals. The senior players are the ones that let the club down today.
It really was a historic day in the rivalry between English football’s biggest clubs.
7 - Liverpool have recorded their biggest ever competitive win against Manchester United (7-0), surpassing their previous best which was set back in October 1895 (7-1 in the second tier). Rout. pic.twitter.com/u0MR5z07US
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 5, 2023
Bruno Fernandes an apt choice of picture for United’s social media team. He wasn’t alone in letting down his team and manager but there was no form of leadership shown by him.
A Sunday well spent ❤️ pic.twitter.com/YDoNwS9B9h
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) March 5, 2023
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) March 5, 2023
Jürgen Klopp goes to the Kop for his usual fist bumps. The road back to prominence will be long, but it’s open
The stats are in.
That equals Manchester United's heaviest ever defeat:
— Jonny Blain (@jonoblain) March 5, 2023
also 7-0 v Blackburn in 1926, 7-0 v Aston Villa in 1930 and 7-0 v Wolves in 1931.
MO SALAH IS LIVERPOOL'S ALL-TIME RECORD PL GOALSCORER 👑 pic.twitter.com/OSu39tbFtT
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) March 5, 2023
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Full-time: Liverpool 7-0 Manchester United
Incredible from Liverpool, incredible from Manchester United. Rarely can a team have melted down so readily against a fierce rival but then again rarely can a team have taken advantage so readily. Congratulations to Liverpool. Does this mean they are back? Perhaps though we can also say that Manchester United’s title hopes are over and the Erik ten Hag tributes can be mothballed. The pendulum between these two clubs swings back towards Merseyside.
90 min: It might have been eight. Luke Shaw looks lucky to get away with smashing into Trent Alexander-Arnold to cap off the worst performance of his Manchester United career.
Three minutes of Liverpool ecstasy/United agony to be added on.
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Goal! Liverpool 7-0 Manchester United (Firmino, 89)
….yes, it didn’t take long. Roberto Firmino, set to leave, slots home. Ir arrives, of course, via Salah and United’s dreadful defending. It’s a goal celebrated by fans running on the pitch, only to be shooed away by a raging Jurgen Klopp.
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87 min: Now, can United prevent a seventh? Don’t bet on it.
85 min: More subs:
For United: Elanga on for Rashford though Bruno Fernandes, whose petulance has been off the scale, is asking why he can’t come off. Behaving like a brat amid humiliation is a very bad look.
For Liverpool: Elliot, who continues to an unsung hero, off for Curtis Jones.
Goal! Liverpool 6-0 Manchester United (Salah, 83)
It was coming, and mostly because United seem to want to present Liverpool with goal after a goal. Luke Shaw, his head melted, serves to set up Salah. Salah is booked for taking his shirt off in celebration of overtaking Robbie Fowler.
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81 min: Sir Kenny Dalglish, sat with his son Paul in the stands, is enjoying himself.
78 min: “We want six,” say the Liverpool fans. They’ll probably get it, though six subs are made.
For Liverpool: Henderson on for Bajcetic. Nunez and Gakpo go off, on come Jota and Firmino. Fabinho off, Milner on.
For United: Sabitzer and Malacia on, Casemiro and Martinez off.
Shaw and Bruno Fernandes not taken off before they get sent off. Could King Erik pay for that?
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Goal! Liverpool 5-0 Manchester United (Nunez, 75)
What a day for Gakpo and Nunez, and United fans are streaming out. Alexander-Arnold loops the ball back into the box, and Henderson retrieves it, crossing on to the head of Nunez’s whose header is expertly flicked. Two goals against Manchester United? The stuff that legends are made of.
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74 min: Two United subs are imminent, presumably an attempt to put Shaw and Bruno in the cooler.
72 min: Bruno Fernandes goes to the ground, and wants Konate to be disciplined, though that would need Konate to have been anywhere near him. That’s very poor from Bruno. Utterly lacking in sportsmanship.
70 min: A penalty appeal in vain from Bruno Fernandes as a ball hits a Liverpool hand in a perfectly natural position.
68 min: We’re in heads gone territory here. Luke Shaw and Nunez clash and it briefly looks as if punches are imminent. Shaw – just – calms down, and Nunez is becalmed too. Shaw was the agitator, and United players need to make sure they don’t pick up suspensions.
Goal! Liverpool 4-0 Manchester United (Salah, 66)
Antony Gordon lookalike Alejandro Garnacho forces a corner that only ends up causing trouble for United. Liverpool clear and via a series of failed clearances from clodhopping United defenders, Salah smashes in his 128th Premier League goal. No 129 is probably not too far off. Ten Hag, by the way, is raging. He’s incredulous.
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64 min: McTominay lunges in on Gakpo, and it’s studs up. He’s booked but it may well have been red. And he was the player brought on to calm things down.
63 min: Anfield really enjoying its collective self now. This is the type of performance – and dominance over Manchester United – they were so used to in the Klopp years.
60 min: Martinez clatters Gakpo in an Eredivisie reunion from last year. He’s booked, and rightly. Ten Hag might be best advised to withdraw some of his hotheads before it all goes even more underpants and United lose players for the games coming up.
58 min: Konate heads a corner down and just wide as Fred and Weghorst go off and McTominay and Garnacho come on in an attempt to right the ship before any time of rescue can take place.
Graeme Souness’ smuggery levels in post-match could be off the scale. A big call that Liverpool would win this one looking fully vindicated. The real football men just know, don’t they?
56 min: It could have been four. Robertson wafts the ball past De Gea but wide of the post after Gakpo digs out the ball. United, at the moment, are an absolute rabble. Anfield has been one step too far for them.
54 min: Manchester United want a penalty. Chaotic scenes in the Liverpool box, as Alisson loses the ball at his feet, and then reaches down and looks to fell Bruno. No, Bruno’s leg was nowhere near the hand. A let-off, and a Liverpool player’s turn to lose concentration.
52 min: Two brilliant goals from Gakpo, who now looks a bargain at £35m. Suddenly, the revolution at Manchester United doesn’t look quite so assured. And you can’t blame the Glazer family for United’s full-backs and defensive midfielder having a collective meltdown, can you?
Goal! Liverpool 3-0 Manchester United (Gakpo, 50)
United push on, Salah speeds down the right, and slips in Gakpo. The angle is narrow, but De Gea is still beaten. It’s a brilliant finish. Liverpool are…back?
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48 min: United try to find a way back as Antony does his shot, and Alisson reads it well. The Liverpool fans are now full of voice. United have to hunt their way back into a game that their lack of concentration has cost them.
Goal! Liverpool 2-0 Manchester United (Nunez, 47)
United caught cold again! Luke Shaw loses the ball, Casemiro and Weghorst can’t clear it, and the ball drops to Elliot, who lays it on a plate for Nunez, who cannot miss. Even he cannot miss…and Liverpool are in dreamland, while United have been in slumberland.
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46 min: Back we go at Anfield. What now awaits us? Manchester United have become used to winning matches from behind, so beware Liverpool?
Colum gets in touch: “A much more convincing first half from Liverpool than has been seen in a long while The intensity has been at the levels of last season and the concentration too. Robertson has played with real fire in his belly and has been a constant thorn in United’s side. And Gakpo’s goal has been the icing on the cake.”
Ben O’Connell emails in: “How exactly did Gakpo snub United? They couldn’t afford him, hence Weghorst on loan? Nice editorialising with no substance to back it up and a convenient ignoring of facts.”
Ben is correct in that Liverpool were prepared to pay the fee straight out unlike United.
“To be honest, I spoke to him [Van Nistelrooy] a lot about United in the summer when the transfer looked like it may be coming,” Gakpo said. “But in the winter, not really. It was Ruud’s wish that I went to a big club - and I think I have achieved that with Liverpool.”
So, was it United who snubbed Gakpo? Or should we just avoid use of the word “snub”?
Half-time: Liverpool 1-0 Manchester United
United’s gameplan was going well, and they had the ball in the net from Casemiro. And yet, seconds later, Gakpo, the player who snubbed didn’t join them, was scoring, taking advantage of a loss of concentration from Dalot and then Fred. Plenty left to play for but Liverpool scored just as they came under pressure.
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45 min: Only one minute added on, and Jürgen Klopp wants more after all that timewasting by United. The end of the half is still greeted with a huge roar.
44 min: It was against the run of play but Liverpool were able to exploit the greater space offered by United’s greater adventure.
Goal! Liverpool 1-0 Manchester United (Gakpo, 43)
Liverpool lead, and it’s Robertson’s pass to Gakpo, who cuts in past Fred, Dalot having been cut out of play, back on to his favoured right foot. Great finish from the player who United wanted to sign.
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42 min: United get the ball in the net…but Casemiro was offside. And he knew it. That was a far better piece of Liverpool organisation.
41 min: There’s been ructions on the edge of the Liverpool box, and Fabinho grips Varane to the ground. Then, to confirm his entry into the book, he smashes down Rashford.
39 min: Panic in the Liverpool area as Antony is threaded through. Alisson scampers out and Van Dijk clears. It was offside but Liverpool were all at sea, and it was an offside by accident rather than design.
38 min: Liverpool’s turn to slow down things. The game yet to be anywhere near crescendo levels, though Dalot’s pass to Rashford catches the striker unaware. Bruno Fernandes has a big moan about his compatriot’s ball but the fault lay with striker rather than assister to these eyes.
36 min: Liverpool fans singing that anthem to the tune of the Fabs’ I Feel Fine. Their team is not yet doing fine, merely OK. It’s tense.
34 min: Jürg is out of his seat, and raging. But is this their response? Gakpo smashes into Antony, and that’s his second foul. That sets off Jürg again.
32 min: United have a free-kick, awarded when Gakpo crunches into Luke Shaw. Dalot gets on the end of a Bruno ball and Alisson claims but the momentum is with United for the moment.
30 min: The first booking looks to be Luke Shaw, for pulling back Salah, though it seems no such card is brandished. The resultant free-kick is cleared and Konate has to get the ball clear when Antony attempts to reach Rashford at the back post. Antony gives a knowing smile to his colleague.
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29 min: Now Liverpool attempt to wrest back control. They pass it rather than push on. The word from a man in the stands is that Nunez is struggling after falling on his shoulder.
27 min: And now Luke Shaw sends Rashford away, only for the golden boy’s golden touch to desert him. United suddenly look as if they fancy this.
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26 min: The best chance so far. Diogo Dalot whips the ball, Beckham-style, and Bruno Fernandes, off the left, heads wide. Erik ten Hag agonises on the touchline.
25 min: Another shaky Casemiro touch, just when United seemed to be making incursions. Neither team is capable of keeping the ball. Liverpool have Nunez, United have Antony as their leading conceders.
23 min: Martinez clears when a Robertson ball is arrowing towards Nunez. The pair of them have a discussion that is heated but cordial. One to watch. Both players are combustible.
21 min: Rashford forces a corner, sent clear by Casemiro and Weghorst and Van Dijk has to sweep up. The Dutchman is annoyed. And so is the Kop choir when United take ages over the corner. It’s taken short, and when it goes to Fred, all chance of a shot on goal is lost. A waste of time but maybe that’s the United plan right now.
19 min: A Nunez lash at United’s goal – wide – but he did so from an offside position.
18 min: The Allez Allez Allez songs begin. The Kop sounds a bit more confident. Salah meanwhile drops back and gets two kicks, one off Fred, the next off Antony. Feels like Salah is trying to make something happen for his team by pulling United players with him.
16 min: Casemiro watch: he’s still slower than usual, and keeps giving the ball away. Meanwhile, it’s left to Fred to annoy Liverpool, engaging Nunez over in a squabble over a free-kick. Then, as the ball goes into the area, Liverpool can’t seem to get a clean hit on the ball, lots of looping and shanking of the ball. United seem determined to slow this one down to a clogfest.
14 min: Liverpool’s early impetus slowed – for now. United attempt to build patiently but Antony, as he is wont to do, loses the ball. Salah, suddenly, finds space and then with his left hoiks the ball wide and high.
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12 min: Casemiro’s gait is certainly ungainly, even more so than usual. Antony is dropping into midfield to help out, as is Weghorst.
10 min: Ten Hag is reaching for his notebook and four-colour pen. As he does, Antony has his first shot of the game, United’s first. The usual, left-footed from the right, and Alisson palms out. Still, United have territory. And problems, too. Casemiro is limping, and so is Rashford after being smashed into the advertising boards.
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8 min: United holding their shape and forcing the ball backwards. Casemiro, the main man, has not been much on the ball at all. Fred has been doing the sweeping up so far. Liverpool’s energy has been the key facet so far.
7 min: The atmosphere is not quite a white hot as days of yore. But it lifts when Dalot concedes a corner from Robertson’s gallop down the left. There follows some shoving before the ball is hacked clear. Liverpool are looking to make a fast start.
5 min: United free-kick in midfield, smashed into the box and Alisson claims, before rolling the ball out. Fred comes across to stop Salah having a clear sight on goal. United then deliberate over a goal-kick to boos and jeers.
3 min: Alisson gets the ball launched, and there’s a head tennis session. Liverpool with the early impetus and a roar as Salah’s shot is blocked. There’s jeers as Alexander-Arnold makes a mess of the second ball.
2 min: Liverpool free-kick, awarded after Fred takes down Elliot, and it’s cleared with ease, not beating the first man.
1 min: And away we go at Anfield. Formation news, with Rashford playing centrally and Wout Weghorst at number 10. Bruno Fernandes is sat on Trent Alexander-Arnold.
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The teams are out, and the Premier League anthem is rattling around the Anfield rafters. Here comes You’ll Never Walk Alone. Warm embrace and big smiles between Ten Hag and Klopp. Like long lost brothers. Ten Hag takes to the dugout and the smile has gone, and it’s the same for Jürg.
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FSG Out, Klopp In – Enough Is Enough.
The fans have spoken, or at least those fans who clubbed together to hire a Cessna plane.
Plane flying over Anfield…. pic.twitter.com/xkDtRCEkpl
— Mark Ogden (@MarkOgden_) March 5, 2023
A stat, via our friends at the BBC: “This is the fifth time this season that Fabinho, Harvey Elliott and Jordan Henderson have all started together for Liverpool - in the previous four, the Reds have won all four matches, scored 21 goals and only conceded twice.”
So, Jürgen knows? And so does Souness?
Tom Stratford on Edgar Davids and Spurs? Who else didn’t remember that?: “Hey John, likewise remember Egdar Davids saving Barça from the ignominy of a midtable finish that time. I was then subsequently disappointed when he joined Spurs and we weren’t similarly transformed into the best team in the world overnight. But he did boot Arsenal favourite Ray Parlour up in the air two minutes into his debut against Middlesborough, which is something to cling to I guess… enjoy the game!”
Some pre-match thoughts from Jürgen Klopp, speaking to Sky Sports.
Play good is helpful. Be aggressive, but not overly. Be compact, be wild in moments, be brave - these kinds of things. It is a derby but sometimes we know the emotions can get the best out of us or the other way round. It is all about how good we defend and how good we attack.
A mix of experience and the football part which Harvey Elliott brings - he played really well against Wolves, setting a new record for counter-pressing situations.
Pre-match thoughts from the readers:
Joe Pearson: “What worries me today is Rashford barrelling down the left against Alexander-Arnold. I just hope Rashford doesn’t channel his inner Vinicius Junior this afternoon.”
Mike MacKenzie: “I’m worried with both Fabinho & Henderson in midfield. I’d have picked Bajcetic instead of either of them. But I’m just a dolt in Canada.”
Jeff Sax: “The best chance for a long time for MU to win.”
This is the era of hot takes in Our League, and who could deny Graeme Souness his right to make this piping-hot prediction? Roy Keane and Gary Neville could be smirking on the other side of their faces come full-time.
🗣️ “I fully expect them [Liverpool] to turn up today, it’s a long time since I’ve been this confident about a Liverpool win against [Manchester] United.”
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) March 5, 2023
Graeme Souness is backing a Liverpool victory today. 💪 pic.twitter.com/O8zm9apXBa
Ian Copestake has been in touch: “The nature of much that has been written about this game seems to have turned it into a symbol rather than a physical event. Them overtaking us, the old ways dying, can a new spring occur? Klopp even calls it a derby, which it isn’t. But it is ‘like’ a derby and so may as well be called one.”
Will Unwin on Casemiro, a player who must be seen as the signing of the season, unless you prefer the shock and awe of Erling Haaland.
“When you go to recruitment in the summer, we were looking for players with character, with personality,” Ten Hag says. “It was not only about signing players. A lot of players in the world have great skills from a technical approach, or they can run really fast, but we were looking for players who have character, who have personality, who have leadership, take responsibility, who are resilient. That is the type of players I was looking for after I analysed the squad.”
Casemiro’s arrival and impact reminds of when Edgar Davids played half a season for Barcelona in 2004, and suddenly they became the world’s best team. Or, for older readers, Bobby Collins joining Leeds in the early 1960s and making them into the Leeds United the world came to know. He may not burn for long, but he has burned bright. Not, of course, that he needs to be pensioned off in any sense.
Jonathan Liew examined a rivalry of two clubs more alike than their fans might like to admit. Though perhaps they all realise that by now.
The investment in Ten Hag’s side has been not simply in terms of money but time and patience. The backroom structure has slowly been filled out after years of neglect. There is now an established playing style, something United have arguably not enjoyed since Louis van Gaal. Naturally, there are no long-term guarantees. But United are at least trying to construct a coherent identity, to build a functioning organisation, to be – in other words – a little more like Liverpool.
For Manchester United, that’s the same team that started and won last week’s Carabao Cup final, and for Liverpool there’s three changes from the midweek defeat of Wolves. Jordan Henderson, Cody Gakpo and Andrew Robertson are those to come in. No Stefan Bajcetic in midfield, with Harvey Elliott’s energy instead trusted over the young Spaniard’s poise. Such has been Bajectic’s impact that’s a surprise selection. Bobby Firmino, for the off this summer, is on the bench.
Here are the teams
Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson, Elliott, Fabinho, Henderson, Salah, Nunez, Gakpo. Subs: Kelleher, Milner, Firmino, Jones, Carvalho, Matip, Tsimikas, Bajcetic, Jota
Manchester United: De Gea, Dalot, Varane, Martinez, Shaw, Casemiro, Fred, Fernandes, Weghorst, Rashford, Antony. Subs: Heaton, Maguire, Malacia, Sabitzer, Sancho, Wan Bissaka, Elanga, McTominay, Garnacho
Jonathan Wilson’s Observer column today focuses on Jurgen Klopp.
The danger for a managerial great is to hang on because there is such a faith in his abilities: he was the messiah once and he can be again. But cults of personality are dangerous: blind allegiance to a manager obscures the other factors that make a successful club. And managers themselves are not constant. The tendency is to self-parody, in late career to ask not what the most effective solution might be but to attempt the most characteristic.
When last they met, Erik ten Hag got his first ever win as Manchester United manager.
And he did so after dropping Cristiano Ronaldo, a decision that would forebear the binning of the former legend turned millstone by Ten Hag. He’s been speaking about that this weekend.
I do consider big decisions like that, definitely. I have to look at the impact they make, not only in the short term but also for the longer term. You always have to think strategically as a manager and face the consequences. I am aware of it but that is my job and my responsibility.
I had reasons to choose that team against Liverpool. They were obvious. And I knew the reaction if it had been a negative outcome, which is always possible in football.
But I am not worrying. I sleep well also in those nights. I have to take the decisions in respect of the club and the team. I have to stand by those decisions.
From Jürgen Klopp’s programme notes for this game.
As things stand, this season has been a better one for them [United] but there is still time and opportunity to improve things for ourselves.
The last four games we have played in the Premier League have shown that we definitely have the appetite to do this and I could not be happier with the way the players have accepted the challenge ahead of them. When we lost to Wolves a month ago, we received a lot of criticism and much of it was deserved. We are always our own biggest critics but the best thing is that we always have the chance to put things right for ourselves.
That this has started to happen in the games that I have mentioned is a real positive but it does not happen without everyone being ready to get through a tough period together.
This is a message that I have used repeatedly because it is one of the most important I know. Together we have a chance. Together we can deal with problems and come up with solutions. Together we can find a way to be better. And the great thing about this club is that it is built on togetherness, especially at times that are not so good.
Important announcement before this game. This nonsense has to stop. It’s time everyone grew up.
Ten Hag said: “The rivalry between Manchester United and Liverpool is one of the greatest in world football. We all love the passion of the fans when our teams meet, but there are lines that should not be crossed.
“It is unacceptable to use the loss of life – in relation to any tragedy – to score points, and it is time for it to stop. Those responsible tarnish not only the reputation of our clubs but also, importantly, the reputation of themselves, the fans, and our great cities. On behalf of myself, our players, and our staff, we ask our fans to focus on supporting the team on Sunday, and representing our club in the right way.”
Klopp added: “One of the main reasons why the rivalry between Liverpool and Manchester United is so special is that it is so intense and no one should ever want to change this. But at the same time when the rivalry becomes too intense it can go to places that are not good for anyone and we do not need this.
Preamble
Here we go, here we go, here we go….this is it. Let’s be honest here, this fixture between the trademarked two biggest clubs in England, and certainly the most successful, can often be an absolute dog. Form doesn’t so much go out the window as forget itself as the tranqs kick in. At least there is plenty at stake here, with Liverpool’s eyes focused on the top four, and thankful to Wolves for yesterday’s win over Tottenham.
United’s chance of a title is slim, especially if the top two keep winning but keeping Liverpool down in the Europa League/Conference League would meet the approval of fans, and also affect the summer transfer plans of a club who would really like someone like Declan Rice or Jude Bellingham to add quality to their midfield. It was only a few weeks ago that Cody Gakpo chose Anfield over Old Trafford, a decision that has not looked the best choice so far. Still, should Liverpool win this, then they can begin to look upwards and to a future brighter than what has been such a poor season for them.
For United, a quadruple is on, though their eternal rivals are this season showing the problems of fighting on so many fronts.
Kick-off is 4.30pm. Join me.
