Manchester United defied expectations to claim a well-earned point away at Anfield.
Not many Manchester United fans held out much hope of getting a result at Liverpool, amid the team’s form, injury issues, and last season’s shellacking.
But what we could have done without hearing, was all the pre-match talk that Manchester United would be cut to shreds by Liverpool again, talking Erik ten Hag’s side down.
You wondered if Ten Hag and the players had listened to a little of it too, to fire them up.
United earn a draw
As the match kicked-off, Sky pundit Paul Merson sent out a message tipping Liverpool for an easy win.
He wrote: “Comfortable Liverpool win here!”
It was anything but, with Manchester United frustrating Liverpool to earn a draw, and had the best chance of the game in the second half.
After absorbing the Liverpool pressure inside the first couple of minutes, United were then able to keep the home side at bay without too many scary moments.
Earlier in the weekend, Merson had told Sportskeeda, “I expect Liverpool to rip them to shreds, so I’m going for a 3-0 home win.”
United defended as a team
Manchester United did not give Liverpool the chance to repeat last season’s goal glut, with the attack, defence, and midfield working well together.
In goal, Andre Onana showed composure and strong handling, giving some confidence to the rest of the team, which was badly missing at Anfield last season with David de Gea conceding easy goals.
If the football world wants to keep on doubting Manchester United, let them. It will only fire up Erik ten Hag and his team even further.
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