Liverpool 2-2 Man United: Match Report & Ratings | OneFootball

Liverpool 2-2 Man United

Well, none of that went to plan. An opportunity was missed undoubtedly, albeit without ground lost to those around us – perhaps with the exception of Nottingham Forest – but it wasn’t supposed to be a contest, certainly not at Anfield.

Whilst nothing can be taken for granted when arguably our most fierce rival comes to town, given the current respective league positions, an apparent gulf in confidence levels and overall feeling about the directions of travel at both clubs, it was safe to anticipate The Reds overpowering their visitors at some point.

However, how it panned out was the polar opposite as fleeting moments of anything resembling what we’ve so far witnessed from Arne Slot’s side came and went as the overall balance of play swung in United’s favour more often than not.

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Liverpool started the match on the front foot, but there was a surprising threat level from Ruben Amorim’s charges and half chances for the superb Alexis Mac Allister and Cody Gakpo aside, the first 45 minutes ended goalless and if anything, it was United who might’ve felt as though they should’ve been in the lead.

Slot’s side have become renowned for their improved second-half displays but whatever was said at the break appeared to have little to none of the desired impact as once again it was the visitors who looked the most dangerous and eventually broke the deadlock when Lisandro Martinez fired an unstoppable effort into the roof of the net beyond Alisson Becker.

Albeit not instantaneous, this did at least stir some response from The Reds when Gakpo cut inside to send Matthijs De Ligt for a copy of the Liverpool Echo before firing home to level the scoreline and seemingly breathe a renewed life into the home side.

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Moments later, and with Liverpool now looking more like the team they’d been all season, that life was doubled when De Ligt’s clear handball was punished following a VAR review and Mohamed Salah just about fired home from the spot to make it 2-1 and draw level with Thierry Henry’s Premier League goal haul.

But, with Slot already going for broke from the bench, the hosts were unable to stem the tide and yet more problems came down the right-hand side when Alejandro Garnacho’s low pullback found Amad Diallo in the area who scuffed an effort beyond Alisson.

It’s undoubtedly been a winter of discontrent for Trent Alexander-Arnold with speculation rife over his future, thankfully it hadn’t shown in his performance, until this. Almost to a man, Liverpool were below par, but Alexander-Arnold, a man lauded for his passing ability, rarely found a teammate, looked lackadaisical in defence and cut a troubled figure as he was replaced by Conor Bradley late on.

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Conor Bradley replaced Alexander-Arnold late on and was an instant upgrade, almost making the difference from a tight angle when it might’ve been easier to square to the unmarked Salah.

With both teams desperate to find a winner for different reasons, it was a tale of the big-money centre-backs when Van Dijk headed straight at Andre Onana before Harry Maguire blazed over with the goal at his mercy late on with almost the last kick of the game.

As you were from a league point of view, but from a confidence point of view this is a display that needs a response immediately.

Player Ratings

XI: Alisson 8, Trent Alexander-Arnold 4, Ibrahima Konate 7, Virgil van Dijk 7, Andy Robertson 6; Ryan Gravenberch 7, Alexis Mac Allister 8, Curtis Jones 6; Mohamed Salah 7, Cody Gakpo 8, Luis Diaz 6.

Subs: Nunez 5, Elliott 6, Jota 7, Bradley 7.