“Incredible”: Manchester United 2 Liverpool 2 tactical analysis

Liverpool and Manchester United met for the third time this season. Once again, Jürgen Klopp’s team could not find a way to defeat Erik ten Hag’s side, despite having plentiful chances to do so. 

Liverpool ended the afternoon having had 28 shots – the most on record (since 2003/04) by a visiting team at Old Trafford. By contrast, United failed to record a single shot in the first half of a Premier League game for the first time since April 2022, which was also against Liverpool. It was no surprise, then, that Klopp’s team went in 1-0 up at half-time, thanks to Luis Díaz, who pounced on a Darwin Núñez flick-on from a corner.

They should have been further ahead at the break, but Bruno Fernandes made them pay for squandering such dominance. The United skipper capitalised on a loose Jarell Quansah pass in the 50th minute to score with his team’s first shot. To further highlight Liverpool’s profligacy, his long-range strike had an expected goals figure of just 0.01. Kobbie Mainoo’s stunning curler after 67 minutes then gave Ten Hag’s team an improbable lead.

Eventually, Liverpool’s pressure yielded an equaliser, but it was telling that they needed a spot-kick to score it. In three games against United, they had registered 87 shots, yet dropped four Premier League points and were knocked out of the FA Cup. 

How the managers saw it

“You saw Liverpool were dominating the game but we stayed in the game,” said Erik ten Hag. “In decisive moments, we were losing duels and losing battles… we were bullied by Liverpool. The young players were sometimes even overwhelmed but then, in the second half, they stepped up. You saw the improvement in the belief, and they were convinced we could get a win.”

“[I am] happy with a lot of parts of the game,” said Jürgen Klopp. “Being 1-0 up at Old Trafford and having a 15-0 shooting stat is incredible. It says to me immediately again there is probably something around the finishing. It was either exceptional goalkeeping – which was the case for one situation for Dom Szoboszlai, [which] was an incredible save – but besides that we should and could have been calmer and clearer in moments.”

Below, our coaching experts explain how the game played out, by highlighting the key tactical points…

Manchester United overload the left, isolate the right 

Manchester United lined up in a 4-2-3-1 and started the game frequently counter-attacking into the final third. Indeed, Alejandro Garnacho put the ball into the back of Liverpool’s net after just two minutes, but it was disallowed for offside. The hosts overloaded their left side as they counter-attacked. Fernandes moved wide left, around Marcus Rashford – especially when Conor Bradley aggressively followed Rashford, with Liverpool’s right-back collecting a needless booking early on.

Rasmus Højlund also made runs across to United’s left, creating extra space for Garnacho on the right. The Argentine was often the wrong side of Andy Robertson, which gave him space to run into, should United work a switch or cross (below).

During United’s more controlled spells, Diogo Dalot inverted from right-back. This was seen during their deeper build-up and goal-kicks, as well as when they ventured into Liverpool’s half. Dalot’s movement lured Luis Díaz inwards, creating a 1v1 for Garnacho against Robertson in a bigger space (below).

United continued to place numbers on their left side, though, with Fernandes working around Bradley. This often freed Rashford nearer the touchline, in the absence of forward runs from Aaron Wan-Bissaka. Playing left-back, he remained back, clearly wary of the counter-attacking threat from Mo Salah on this side. Mainoo also joined the left, via late runs from midfield (above).

Despite United starting with a flurry on their right, Liverpool’s initial lack of bodies soon gave way to progressive and much more purposeful attacks on that side. 

Liverpool’s advancing left side

Liverpool set up in their customary 4-3-3 shape and soon created chances of their own, with progressive attacks on their left (below). Robertson moved forward very early, dragging Garnacho back with him and nullifying his threat in the process. Díaz then moved inside, often dragging Dalot with him. This opened up passes over and around, with Virgil van Dijk widening to the left and showcasing his superb range of passing. Endo dropped in to split Liverpool’s centre-backs, while Szoboszlai provided late runs from midfield and Núñez worked on to United’s inexperienced centre-back, Willy Kambwala. Previously, Liverpool’s number nine had been losing out to Harry Maguire when competing for direct passes on the other side.

After taking the lead, Liverpool continued to create chances. Robertson’s forward runs became a big problem for the hosts, with Garnacho unable to track and follow. Díaz – operating within the inside channel and still dragging Dalot inside – linked well with his overlapping teammate (below). Szoboszlai and Núñez occupied the central defenders and positioned themselves for cut-backs from Robertson, with Salah lurking at the far post. Despite regularly entering United’s penalty area, though, Liverpool were wasteful with their chances.

Transitional second half

Manchester United’s unlikely equaliser gave them a real boost. They pushed both full-backs forward in the second half, joining attacks inside the wingers. Fernandes then operated deeper and more centrally, linking into these wide pairings. Mainoo also moved extremely high off the ball, sometimes as United’s highest attacker, working around Højlund (below).

Mainoo’s consistently high attacking position culminated in his lovely bending effort to put the home side ahead. The home team squandered further chances, while still committing bodies forward, which brought Liverpool’s counter-attacks into play as the game became very transitional for a spell.

Salah moved more and more inside, often chased back by Rashford and Wan-Bissaka. Bradley then joined in from a wide position, as Núñez often spun out to the left channel. This created central areas for Salah to operate in. Díaz, having tracked the home side’s counter-attacks, narrowed and joined Liverpool’s counters from a deeper starting position. Szoboszlai found huge central spaces to exploit (below), but Liverpool continued to be wasteful. Manchester United soon sat off in a compact block.

In an attempt to find goals, Klopp made multiple changes. Shortly before United took the lead, the German had brought on Joe Gomez for Bradley and Curtis Jones for Szoboszlai. He quickly followed United’s second goal by substituting Endo for Harvey Elliott, and replacing Núñez with Cody Gakpo.

Full-backs Robertson and Gomez held the width, while Salah and Díaz operated as narrow forwards. Elliott – particularly influential on Liverpool’s right – and Gakpo supported underneath. Alexis Mac Allister and Jones operated as a double pivot, limiting United’s counter-attacking threat in the central areas, while also working the ball across the pitch to the trios on either side (below).

From here, Liverpool dominated the ball and the inside-channel spaces. Elliott drew the foul for which the penalty was awarded and Salah duly equalised. Although the Liverpool leveller was deserved, for all their attacking pressure there was to be no winner. Not for the first time against their biggest rivals this season, either.

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