Photo credit: Sports Vision
In a marquee match, Liverpool hosted Manchester United. Liverpool played in a 433 formation with Van Dijk, Conte, Arnold, and Timikas in the back line, Hikaru Endo, Sobosloi, and Gravenbech in midfield, and Salah, Luis Diaz, and Darwin Nunez up front.
United, on the other hand, put out a 4231 formation with Evans, Varane, Dalot and Luke Shaw at the back, Amrabat and Maino at the back, McTominay in attacking midfield, Gana Joe and Anthony on the wings and Hoylund up front.
While Liverpool had a number of players available, United could barely field an 11-man squad due to injuries, including B Faye, who was suspended for accumulating yellow cards.
At the beginning of the match, Liverpool launched a strong attack, and Manchester United could only retreat on all fronts. They tried to counterattack through the sides, but Liverpool's tight defense made United's attack impossible.
In the 15th minute, Arnold's cross from the right was headed by Darwin Nunez from five yards inside the box, but instead of opting for a shot, he sent the ball into the center of the field, where it was eventually cleared by the United defense and goalkeeper Onana.
Liverpool launched a counter attack in the 20th minute when Darwin Nunez rushed forward and was flagged offside by the touch judge. He hit Evans in the altercation, causing Evans to fall to the ground. After the break, Nunez not only choked the linesman, but also gave a thumbs up to referee Michael Oliver to show his sarcasm at the referee's decision. Although he did not receive a second yellow card for this, this provocative behavior could easily cause the referee's displeasure and adversely affect the subsequent game's decision.
In the 28th minute, Liverpool took a corner kick and Van Dijk headed it from the 6-yard line, which was fierce, but was blocked by Onana. This goal has been considered the most dangerous attack of Liverpool in the first half.
However, as time went on, Liverpool couldn't seem to find a way to break through the United defense. Sobosloe was too simple and direct, Gravenbech's work was focused at the back, and while Salah controlled the ball up front, Luke Shaw's defense was so tight that Salah could only attempt to pass the ball. And there were too few teammates to keep up, Luis Diaz had an attacking presence but again lacked a tackle, Darwin Nunez was ineffective at center forward linking the wings, and the midfield didn't work well enough together, making it difficult for Liverpool to form threatening shots.
Liverpool relied heavily on corner kicks to attack, and Manchester United couldn't stop them. In the first half, Liverpool got tons of corners, which was their most threatening attack in the first half.
As the second half began, Liverpool continued to keep the pressure on, and Manchester United made adjustments, moving the wings closer to the front, ready to counterattack. After Liverpool failed to attack for a long time, Manchester United got some chances. In the 54th minute, United launched a counterattack, Ghanacho's long-distance run rushed to the penalty area, Arnold chased with all his might, but eventually failed to stop his shot, which was pounced by Alisson.
Liverpool began to make a difference in the second half, with Salah standing further back in an attempt to draw Luke Shaw out of the box. But Luke Shaw was smart and stayed close to the box, unwilling to leave. Liverpool increased the push of Timikas on the left flank and the forward movement of Gravenbech, which did increase the pressure, and Salah kept passing the ball inwards out wide, but the lack of good defensive backs, and the fact that the two wing-backs had moved up, made it easy to push forward when United launched a counter-attack.
At this point, we noticed that United have been concentrating the ball on Garnacho on the left flank lately, and he was heavily defended in this game, and despite his speed, he was never able to break through against the equally speedy Arnold chasing him back. Anthony, on the other hand, was quite good, converting Liverpool's sideways pressure into his own possession at the defensive end of the pitch in the first half, with Anthony showing great composure and decent use of technique. If United can get the ball to him, then their counter-attacks will be more threatening.
