Liverpool suffered a blow in their title aspirations after they were held to a goalless draw by arch-rivals Manchester United earlier on Sunday.
The Reds were toothless in attack and failed to take advantage of Manchester United’s injuries that forced the Red Devils to use all of their substitutes inside the first half.
Here are the Liverpool players rated in their draw with Manchester United.
Allison (8/10): An extraordinary piece of goalkeeping in the first half when the Brazilian prevented Jesse Lingard from scoring the opener, thanks to his brilliant anticipation. He was hardly tested afterwards with United mustering only three shots on target.
James Milner (5/10): Showed excellent commitment and zest throughout the course of the game but his deliveries from the wider areas were close to awful. His deliveries from corners were also pretty uninspiring.
Joel Matip (7/10): An inspired run in the first half almost led to an excellent scoring opportunity for Liverpool. Aside from that, the former Schalke defender defended rather well, fending off pressure from Romelu Lukaku and co.
Virgil van Dijk (7.5/10): Another crucial performance from the Dutchman, whose physical prowess was important in dealing with the threat of Lukaku while the former Southampton defender was also impressive against the pace of Rashford.
Andrew Robertson (6/10): Struggled to provide the attacking support from the left-flank as United often ganged up in him, and denied him of any space and time on the ball.
Fabinho (7/10): Kept things neat and tidy in midfield, especially when it came to distributing the ball. He was looked very convincing when making tackles or aerial challenges, notably attaining a tackle success rate of 80% whilst winning four headed duels.
Jordan Henderson (6.5/10): Much like Fabinho, Henderson was solid in possession but lack of creativity forced Jurgen Klopp to take him off in the second half.
Georginio Wijnaldum (7.5/10): His neat movement and clever passing eased Liverpool’s transition from midfield to attack. Indeed, Wijnaldum’s immaculate control on the ball was important in a congested midfield, but the Dutchman lacked support when he made the forward bursts.
Mohamed Salah (5/10): Struggled to make any sort of impact in the final third as the Egyptian was closely marked by Luke Shaw. Although he did show glimpses of his brilliance, at times, it was an underwhelming performance from Salah.
Roberto Firmino (5/10): Looked good until his ankle injury that led to his substitution just before the end of half time.
Sadio Mane (6.5/10): Arguably the most active Liverpool attacker this evening, Mane tried to take on defenders and was proactive, but it just didn’t happen for him as some of his passes were intercepted in the final third.
Substitutes
Daniel Sturridge (5/10): Had very little support from his teammates as his ambitious effort just after coming in remained Liverpool’s only shot on target in the game.
Xherdan Shaqiri (NA): His introduction in the second half gave Liverpool fans some hope but the Swiss international also struggled to breach the well-disciplined Man United defence.
Divock Origi (NA): Replaced Salah during the final phase of the game but had very little time to make any impact.
Stat courtesy: Whoscored
