Jurgen Klopp and Alisson Becker both paid a reluctant tribute to Manchester United’s iron-clad defence following Sunday’s 0-0 draw between Liverpool and their bitter Premier League rivals at Anfield.
Considering how Manchester United have defended throughout much of the campaign, and with that 7-0 hammering still fresh in the mind, you’d struggle to find many Red Devils supporters who would not have snatched your hand off for a goalless draw before Sunday’s daunting trip down the M62.
But with Jonny Evans and Raphael Varane rolling back the years, with Kobbie Mainoo exceptional and Andre Onana keeping a clean sheet in a stadium where David de Gea shipped seven just a few months ago, a goalless draw is exactly what Manchester United got.
Manchester United earn Liverpool draw
“They were obviously not here to lose somehow and they really wanted the result. They fought hard for it and credit to them,” Klopp tells the Liverpool website.
“The way United defended was with a lot of passion. The way we played disorganised them quite frequently but, in the end, we didn’t see that because then they were deep in the box and then they just throw themselves into the balls and the shots.
“If a team defends like that, there’s always a free player because rather two than one wants to block the ball, so it means somebody else is probably free. We didn’t see that and that’s why we drew the game.”
Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson, meanwhile, was far more gracious than Liverpool team-mate Virgil van Dijk, the Dutchman’s cage quite clearly rattled by a Man United side who committed the oh-so egregious crime of refusing to roll over and gift wrap the hosts three valuable points.
A team United under Erik ten Hag
“We have to see the good things that the opponents did on the pitch. They made our work really hard at the last third,” Alisson admits, the Liverpool ‘keeper denying United a winner at the other end as he kept out Rasmus Hojlund one-v-one.
“The way they defended, they sat back and they worked hard. All the shots that we had (were) always with pressure so it was not easy. We take that, we take the point, we take the clean sheet and take the things we can improve and the things we did well.”
With six to his name, Andre Onana now has the joint-most clean sheets in the Premier League and one more than Alisson.
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