Anfield was the location of Erik ten Hag’s lowest ebb as Manchester United manager and he returns with roles reversed between the two clubs. The visitors went into the match on 5 March with one defeat in 11 and having won the Carabao Cup, their first major silverware since 2017, the previous weekend but seven goals later United’s fragility was laid bare, an ailment yet to be addressed nine months on.
It was a reminder of what Liverpool were capable of. They had finished the previous season 34 points ahead of United, who overturned that to finish eight points and two positions above Liverpool in May. It looked as if United were on the up and their rivals down, although few are now surprised by the situation the two find themselves in before Sunday’s game.
Jürgen Klopp recognised early on last season that something was wrong, as they won two of their opening eight games. Having finished no lower than fourth in the previous six seasons, it was a concern that Liverpool could not match the standards they had set. The new signing Darwin Núñez did not look worthy of his £64m price tag as he secured as many goals as sendings-off in his first seven competitive appearances.
Life was somewhat different at Old Trafford: despite United losing their opening two matches, Ten Hag had clearly made an impression in his attempts to change the club’s culture and the third game was a 2-1 victory against Liverpool.
Casemiro and Lisandro Martínez settled quickly to provide the stability the spine of the team had missed, Marcus Rashford was becoming the prolific forward he always promised to be and even though the manager’s relationship with Cristiano Ronaldo broke down and the forward was released it did not affect form or morale. By the time United reached Anfield they were in confident mood, a disposition rarely seen since.
Liverpool are top and Manchester United are 10 points below, out of the Champions League and have lost 12 of their 24 matches in all competitions. Ten Hag is under pressure and the only thing concerning Klopp is lunchtime kick-offs on a Saturday. The visitors arrive on Merseyside without Bruno Fernandes, their suspended captain, and the in-form but injured Harry Maguire, having suffered a 3-0 home defeat to Bournemouth, followed by Bayern’s win at Old Trafford. Ten Hag’s mantra after defeats is that his team need to learn from them but the pedagogy is having little impact.
“We did [learn] as a team from last week,” Ten Hag says of Bournemouth’s victory. “We were very disciplined in the way we defended against Bayern Munich – sometimes very high, sometimes very low, but we were really there as a team. Now we have to make the next step from those moments where we control the game out of possession, we have to take benefits when we regain the ball on the counters, on the high turnovers, and we have to transfer that into opportunities, chances and, in the end, to goals.” Anfield would be a good place to prove this theory.
Klopp plotted a tactical tweak to freshen up Liverpool and meticulously planned a summer midfield overhaul to reinvigorate the squad. Trent Alexander-Arnold was trained to become a hybrid defender/midfielder, moving from right-back into central areas where he can have an impact with his distribution. While late moves for Moisés Caicedo and Roméo Lavia failed, the World Cup winner Alexis Mac Allister was targeted and signed on 8 June, while Dominik Szoboszlai joined less than a month later for a combined total of £95m to set Liverpool up for the new season.
Recruitment is a key difference between the two clubs. Even though Liverpool changed sporting directors over the summer, they were more coherent in the market. United brought in Mason Mount, whose best role at Chelsea was playing on the left, where United already have Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho, while their central midfield addition was the loan signing Sofyan Amrabat on deadline day. Liverpool were in a similar bind with the surprise departure of Fabinho but Wataru Endo was a smart acquisition and he has settled quickly.
United’s search for a No 9 ended with the arrival of Rasmus Højlund for £67m from Atalanta. The inexperienced Dane is yet to score in 12 league appearances and is not getting the service required for a striker. United continue to stick to the same formula, rather than adapting to help the 20-year-old, who looks isolated in the final third – United have scored 18 in 16 league matches, while Liverpool have 36.
One pertinent problem for United is Antony: the Brazilian, unlike his fellow South American Núñez, has not kicked on. He offers his casual brand of nice touches but never looks like he will do anything close to incisive to help in the final third. Núñez is not the finished article because he is not clinical enough and has a penchant for being offside but there is clear progression from the player who arrived from Benfica. He has four goals and five assists in 15 matches this season, compared with Antony’s blank on both fronts in 12 appearances.
Ten Hag is desperate for United to find the consistency Klopp enjoys. Liverpool have won every game at home and their sole defeat was suffered at Tottenham, with the mitigation of an incompetent implementation of VAR. United have, to their credit, won nine of their 16 league matches but whenever they have come up against opposition with Champions League aspirations, they have fallen short – Tottenham, Arsenal, Manchester City and Newcastle have all seen them off.
“I see the quality on the training pitch but the only moment you have to prove it is in the games,” Ten Hag says. “As a team we have to get more consistent.”
Sunday could be another indication of how far United are away from being title challengers. United fans’ expectations are dismally low, with many just hoping to avoid a new nadir. As Klopp can testify, it does not take that long to turn things around, something Ten Hag can learn from, otherwise he risks repeating history.
