Liverpool get forward yet again, though nothing comes of it. There’s another lull as Mazraoui goes down in a worrying way. And United don’t have a full-back on the bench…Liverpool scored,” says Stephen Carr. “This vile behaviour needs to be called out.” I missed that but if you’re right, it certainly does.Liverpool faithful,” says Stephen Berkery. “A slight change in tactics, and Gravenberch suddenly looks like a superstar… A change of manager sees a squad player become a prime mover.”Liverpool under Klopp. Every MU player with a contract knows Ten Hag will eventually get tossed out the castle window.”Liverpool win a corner on the right. “They’ve got on top,” Gary Neville says, “the last seven or eight minutes.”Liverpool have the edge on composure, reflecting their new manager’s air of calm. De Ligt has to tidy up as Diaz threatens down the left.Liverpool are the better team now, playing some gorgeous passes. In United’s midfield only Kobbie Mainoo, serene as ever, seems able to cope. As Mac Allister recovers from a blow, Casemiro and Lisandro Martinez hold an inquest into the goal that wasn’t.Liverpool to break.Liverpool soon clear.Liverpool go into a huddle as the two Dutch managers have a quick hug.the defeat at Brighton meant Erik ten Hag was already under pressure. He may be about to make that line look very silly.Premier League, and he knows Antony. If it was that simple, you would like to think he could have worked it out?” Ha, yes, but he didn’t know the Premier League very well when he splashed out on Antony, two years ago today. Maybe he has worked it out now, and that’s one reason why Antony is third choice on the right wing behind Garnacho and Amad.Liverpool?” I think he did come on for the last 20 minutes or so against Brentford, but point taken.Liverpool need only a draw to leapfrog them. If Liverpool win, they will join Man City as the only clubs with a 100pc record after three games. Chelsea, for all their goals at Molineux, are 11th, two places and one point above Man United, who, if they win, will soar to seventh.Premier League they do double up, so they can block off that avenue, and his lack of a strong right foot makes it hard for him to go round the outside.Liverpool have some serious firepower in Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo.
Man United (possible 4-2-4-0) Onana; Mazraoui, De Ligt, Martinez, Dalot; Casemiro, Mainoo; Garnacho, Fernandes, Zirkzee, Rashford.
Subs: Bayindir, Heaton, Maguire, Evans, Collyer, Eriksen, Amad, Antony, Wheatley.
Liverpool (probable 4-2-1-3) Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Gravenberch, Mac Allister; Szoboszlai; Salah, Jota, Diaz.
Subs: Kelleher, Bradley, Quansah, Gomez, Tsimikas, Endo, Elliott, Nunez, Gakpo.
Referee Anthony Taylor.
Liverpool from the FA Cup with his last-gasp winner.Liverpool is a rancorous old rivalry that, even in the age of Man City, still pits the club with the most league titles (United, 20) against the one with the next-most (Liverpool, 19). The Old Trafford crowd may just find a way of mentioning that.
Today’s game will be just like many a meeting between the two sides and, in one way, quite different. It appears to be the first big-six meeting ever involving a Dutch manager on either side. You wait decades for a big English clash between two Dutch managers and then find that actually there are four of them, as Erik ten Hag now has two more as his right-hand men – Ruud van Nistelrooy, who has managed PSV Eindhoven, and Rene Hake, who, like Ten Hag, has managed Go Ahead Eagles.
When they shake hands, Ten Hag and Arne Slot will look interchangeable with their shaven heads and friendly faces, but as Premier League managers they are already chalk and Dutch cheese. Slot has instantly established himself as a reluctant shopper and a considered strategist with a clear style. Without exactly renouncing Klopp-ball, he has added a twist of patience and gained more control.
The upshot, in his first two Premier League games, has been a pair of 2-0 wins. That’s as many as United managed in the whole of last season. It’s not just the results that bother United fans: as Ten Hag hangs on for a third autumn in Manchester, it’s still hard to say what his style is.
While Liverpool invested in just one player over the summer (Federico Chiesa, for £10m, a third of his market value according to Transfermarkt), Ten Hag and his new colleagues bought five for about 18 times that. The latest recruit is Manuel Ugarte – yes, Man U have brought in a man called Man U – but he wasn’t registered in time to play today. The only attacker among the five, Joshua Zirkzee, may get a first start as Mason Mount is injured again and Scott McTominay, to the disappointment of many supporters, is no longer there.
No Dutch manager has ever won the Premier League, or even come second. For all his success in the domestic cups, it’s hard to picture Ten Hag changing that. Slot has a more realistic chance, though he may have to wait until Pep Guardiola gets bored of giving us his thoughts on hat-tricks from Erling Haaland.
United overperformed against Liverpool last season, somehow contriving to win once and draw twice while going out of their way to concede as many shots as possible. Today feels as if it might just be payback time. But it’s a derby, so anything could happen, or nothing.
Source: theguardian.com
