Five things we learned as Manchester United lose 4-2 to rivals Liverpool

Manchester United have been beaten 4-2 by bitter rivals Liverpool.

The midweek fixture came after the original game was postponed due to United fans entering Old Trafford and protesting against the Glazers’ ownership.

There were further protests outside the stadium ahead of tonight’s game, with beefed-up security and police presence preventing fans from disrupting the game.

But United’s fourth game in eight days ended in defeat, here are five things we learned…

Manchester United v Liverpool - Premier League — Photo by Peter Powell – Pool/Getty Images

Defensive mistakes cost United

Harry Maguire arrived on crutches and in a boot, making his prospects of playing before the end of the season very unlikely.

And United’s defensive frailties were exposed as three mistakes cost them four goals, and the game.

United have been determined to concede goals from set-pieces in almost every game this season and tonight was no different.

Diogo Jota poked in a scrappy goal from close range after the Red Devils failed to clear the ball from a corner and ten minutes later Roberto Firmino escaped Paul Pogba’s marking to head in from a free-kick.

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The third was simply a calamity which included Fred causally giving away the ball away on the edge of the area, Luke Shaw getting caught trying to dribble his way out of trouble, and Dean Henderson spilling the ball for Firmino to tap in.

United looked shaky through the middle without the usual presence and anchoring of Maguire.

While chasing a third goal, United were caught on the break and Mohammed Salah finished an easy one-on-one.

Bailly and Lindelof tested

With Maguire’s absence came a rarely used central defensive partnership in Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelof.

It was a testing night for the duo against a Liverpool side who deserved their win. Bailly deserves credit simply for playing his second game in three days, considering his awful injury record. Ominously, he did go off late in the second half.

Lindelof did well to contain Liverpool’s Mohammed Salah for large parts of the game and Bailly cleaned up any scraps that were leftover, surviving a penalty scare that was rightly overturned by VAR – though we’ve seen them given.

It could be argued that Maguire would have prevented the first and third goal if he had been playing, but with or without the captain, United desperately need to address their set-piece defending.

We might end up seeing Axel Tuanzebe thrown into the mix next week, as United continue to explore options without Maguire. Solskjaer does like consistency though, so if Bailly is fit, he could start Lindelof and Bailly against Fulham.

Rashford on the right

Marcus Rashford started in the right-wing forward role tonight, a change from his usual starting position on the left which has been occupied by Paul Pogba for four games running.

The Frenchman has been pushed further up the pitch lately and it seems to work as United look a far more dangerous prospect going forward with his quality in the final third.

The two combined for the lead up to the first goal, with a deep searching pass from Pogba finding Rashford out wide who played in Wan-Bissaka to assist Bruno Fernandes.

There will be questions over the effectiveness of Rashford running at defences on the right-hand side, after doing it so well from the left.

And Pogba’s defending in his new position can sometimes be a cause for concern as he did not track Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold as much Ole probably would have liked, as well as being at fault for the second goal with poor marking.

But it seems Pogba’s presence and skill further up the pitch is enough to offset that for now.

Henderson in the spotlight

Today we saw the good and bad of Dean Henderson, in the same way we have seen the good and bad of David De Gea in recent seasons.

The first two goals Henderson could hardly do anything about and he showed that he is ready to take the No.1 reigns from club legend David De Gea, whenever that may be.

He made some vital saves in both halves and his distribution was good in a performance that had shades of De Gea to it.

But he also displayed some of De Gea’s poorer qualities in the last few seasons, spilling a shot that really should have been dealt with better for the third goal.

Mohamed Salah is one of the most clinical finishers from one-on-one positions in the league, but Henderson made it easy for him with the fourth goal as he could have come further off his line to close the striker down.

Henderson is still young with plenty more to learn and there are few goalkeepers in the world better to study than De Gea.

Not much to choose from off the bench

In a week where a lot of talk surrounded Manchester City’s title-winning squad, a lack of options off the bench for United side was clear to see.

Aside from Mason Greenwood who did make a difference when he came on for Fred in the 63rd minute, United had few players they could choose from to help push the side to get something out of the game.

After the Leicester City game on Tuesday, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said they would need to make some signings if they wanted to catch their cross-city rivals.

And today’s game was evidence of that as Ole’s only other substitution was to bring on Nemanja Matic for Eric Bailly towards the end of the game.

Better defending would have prevented a loss tonight but Ole needs more options to change the side’s shape and style going forward when they are losing.

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