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Liverpool hosted their eternal rivals at Anfield on Sunday with a win guaranteeing them a return to the perch of the table. The Reds turned on the style and produced an exhilarating display of attacking football to leave Manchester United in their wake.
Sadio Mane opened the scoring in the 24th minute after he was found perfectly by Fabinho. However, a blooper from Alisson nine minutes later handed the away side a lifeline.
Yet, Liverpool stuck to their attacking guns and out-gunned the Red Devils in the second half with Shaqiri coming off the bench and getting on the score-sheet in the 73rd and 80th minute.
With the 3-1 victory, Liverpool reclaimed their place at the top while it left United 11 points off the top four.
Here is a look at five talking points from the game:
#5 Liverpool had answers to every Manchester United question
Manchester United lined up in a 3-4-3 formation with Dalot and Young operating as wing-backs. Over the course of the season, Liverpool’s fullbacks have had a profound impact on matches and thus, Jose’s ploy to switch to a back three made tactical sense.
Though Liverpool didn’t get a lot of joy on the flanks in the first half, they bossed the middle of the park. Jose had certainly gotten it right when it came to nullifying Liverpool’s full-backs yet he hadn’t prepared for an unlikely creative source in Fabinho.
The three at the back meant that Liverpool always had a spare man in midfield and Fabinho profited immensely. Time and again, he was accorded the space to pick a pass and he eventually did so with a perfectly-weighted clipped through ball for Mane to fire home.
Thus, at half-time, Jose decided to switch to a back four in order to crowd the midfield. However, Liverpool had an answer to this as well. With the extra player now patrolling the middle third, the Reds’ full-backs bombed forward with glee. Robertson and Clyne were a constant menace down the flanks. Moreover, Lingard and Rashford’s lack of defensive nous led to the United rear-guard getting outnumbered too often.
Through the course of the game, Jose tried his best to outsmart Klopp and Liverpool. Yet, the Reds just had a counter to everything Manchester United threw at them.
If Liverpool hadn’t laid down a marker earlier, this win has certainly done that. The champion teams always portray tactical flexibility and Liverpool showed plenty of it at Anfield.
Could this finally be their year? Well, only time will tell.
#4 A day of contrasting fortunes for two world-class goalkeepers
Liverpool and Manchester United battled it out on a cold, rainy night at Anfield. The match represented two sides with completely different philosophies of football going toe to toe. However, another narrative brewing up was that of two top-notch goalkeepers going face to face.
De Gea has been a shadow of himself this season with his latest error coming against Arsenal. However, against Liverpool, he was back to his best. The Spaniard made a pair of crucial saves from Firmino and was hardly at fault for any of the three goals.
On the other hand, Alisson came up with a howler when he spilled Lukaku’s cross straight into Lingard’s path. After the high of mid-week, the Brazilian was brought crashing down to earth.
Apart from that error, Alisson barely had anything to do thus making his path to redemption on the night much harder.
In the war of attrition that Liverpool and Manchester United played out, maybe the battle of the goalkeepers wasn’t as relevant. Yet, De Gea reminded us why he shouldn’t be written off so easily while Alisson showed that he is human after all.
#3 The ‘Swiss Magician’, Shaqiri, has the final say
Liverpool opted for a 4-2-3-1 system with Firmino playing in the ‘No.10’ role and Salah playing up front. On the right-wing, Mane was entrusted with the responsibility whereas Keita manned the other flank. However, many were left wondering why Shaqiri was left out despite the change in the system.
The game was level going into the last quarter of the game when Klopp made his first change. He hauled off Keita in favor of Shaqiri. The Swiss immediately adjusted to the pace of the game and looked threatening from the outset.
Shaqiri’s endeavors were rewarded when he popped up with a goal in the 73rd minute to put Liverpool ahead. After De Gea made a smart save, the ball rolled out to the Swiss. Despite the ball being on his right foot, he finished off the move and made the net bulge.
However, his contribution wasn’t just limited to that. Seven minutes later, he was again on hand to steer the ball beyond the reach of a hapless De Gea.
Shaqiri’s career was down in the dumps after getting relegated with Stoke. Yet, his move to Liverpool has revitalised his career. He looks a man possessed under Klopp and brought his supreme abilities to the fore on Sunday.
With the game heading for a stalemate, the Swiss Magician again conjured magic to tilt the game in his side’s favor.
If he keeps delivering such goods, how long can a call for a start be resisted?
#2 Paul Pogba plays no part in Manchester United’s defeat
Jose decided to field a back three at the start, meaning that he had the place for only two central midfielders. Unsurprisingly, the Portuguese left out Pogba from the starting eleven. However, his decision to not use the Frenchman at all left the entire footballing fraternity baffled.
Despite United changing shape at half-time, Pogba never got a chance to have a go at Liverpool. On a night where United were facing problems trying to drive the ball up-field, the Frenchman’s surging runs could’ve proved useful.
Manchester United were trailing by a goal heading into the final fifteen minutes. Yet, their most flamboyant player stood on the bench, freezing in the Merseyside rain. Jose and Pogba’s relationship has seen many a grey day but arguably none have been as dark as this.
With their season already on a downward spiral, the last thing United want is a tiff between their manager and one of their highest earners. Maybe, Pogba hasn’t helped his case by being lackadaisical but one can’t deny the part Jose has played in making the issue escalate to gigantic proportions.
While a number of questions regarding Jose, Pogba and the club are up in the air, one thing became amply clear at Anfield: Jose just doesn’t trust Pogba in the big games anymore.
#1 Manchester United sink deeper into trouble
Manchester United arrived at Anfield knowing that a win would keep them in touch of the top four. However, on a weekend where Spurs and Chelsea eked out stoic victories, United capitulated again to make the difference between them and the top four stand at a staggering 11 points.
While losing to a Liverpool team as good as Klopp’s current charges isn’t the worst thing in the world, the way United lost surely warrants introspection. The away side were toothless in attack and failed to create anything of note.
Lukaku endured another poor evening with his most notable contribution being a caution for a wild challenge. Though Rashford and Lingard looked bright in patches, neither had the sustained support of any of their teammates.
At times, Manchester United looked clueless on the pitch. The Red Devils looked devoid of ideas and while that could’ve been excused once in a while, it has worryingly become a norm recently.
With United lying 11 points adrift of fourth-placed Chelsea, they seem to be realistically out of contention for the Champions League places. And if they keep producing similar performances, you wouldn’t bet on them turning it around.
In a match where Liverpool underlined their title credentials, Manchester United made sure the whole world knew how far they are off the perch.
The questions are piling up swiftly and Jose doesn’t seem to have an answer in sight. If the ‘Special One’ can’t come up with something substantially special, Manchester United might just sink deeper and deeper into trouble with every passing week.
