The big game of the weekend in the Premier League was the one at Old Trafford between great rivals Manchester United and Liverpool. It turned out to be a rather tame one-sided affair, with Liverpool coasting to victory and scoring 3 unanswered goals in the process. Here are our talking points from the fixture.
Casemiro has a stinker; Colyer-Mainoo in the centre of the park in the second half
Casemiro had an absolute shocker of a first half for United, and two of his mistakes directly led to first-half goals for Liverpool. The Brazilian midfielder was one of the best in the world at Real Madrid, but has looked like a pale shadow of his former self at Old Trafford, and his performance on Sunday was so bad that manager Erik Ten Hag was forced to sub him off at half-time, and bring 20-year-old Toby Collyer (on Premier League debut) in midfield alongside teenager Kobbie Mainoo.
At this rate, United fans can’t wait enough for new signing Ugarte to start.
Arne Slot does a Paisley
The Dutch manager became the first Liverpool gaffer to win his first game against Man Utd since the legendary Bob Paisley back in 1975. And the last LFC boss to win his first against MUFC at Old Trafford was George Kay in 1936!
Slot has big boots to fill as Jurgen Klopp’s replacement, but has started quite well. At the end of GW3, Liverpool are the only side yet to concede a league goal and are top of the table alongside Man City. Slot technically outwitted fellow Dutchman Ten Hag with Liverpool’s pressing in midfield, as he explained to Sky post-match.
First De Ligt start
Matthijs de Ligt got his first Premier League start for Manchester United and gave a decent account of himself before being replaced midway through the second half.
De Ligt hasn’t quite hit the heights expected of him after a stunning start to his career as a teenage prodigy at Ajax, and will be hoping to repay Tem Hag’s faith at Old Trafford.
One Zirkzee header chance is all what United created
One Joshua Zirkzee chance (saved brilliantly by Alisson) was effectively United’s only big chance of the game (see MUFC 0-3 LFC xG)- they didn’t really trouble Alisson otherwise.
It probably comes as no surprise that Liverpool had nearly half a dozen representatives in the Team of the Week for MD3, while United, as you’d expect after such a disappointing performance, had none.
Mo Salah continues scoring spree at Old Trafford
Salah seems to have made Old Trafford a happy hunting ground of sorts, scoring goals at will on his visits to the stadium. It’s quite a stunning record, as the infographic below will tell you!
Manchester United the only team not to score a goal in GW3
United were the only PL team NOT to score a goal in Week 3. Each of the 19 other teams managed to find the back of the net, but not United!
Everything went wrong when MU signed Ronaldo under OGS and disturbed their system.
Ten Hag has been given a long rope though and hopefully this summer’s clearout helps him stamp his authority on the team.