Liverpool were held to a nil-nil draw by Manchester United at Anfield and Premier League all-time top scorer Alan Shearer has looked to explain why.
The Reds had the opportunity to maintain their place at top of the Premier League table with a win over their fierce rivals at Anfield.
Many Liverpool fans – and even United supporters – would have headed into the match expecting a home win, given the opposition’s growing injury list and struggles for form.
Liverpool created plenty of chances but were unable to break the deadlock, while Erik ten Hag’s team were able to return to Manchester with an unlikely point.
The Reds have produced some high-scoring victories over Man United in recent seasons but Premier League legend Alan Shearer has explained why Liverpool struggled in front of goal, this time around.
“All the talk beforehand was about how many they would win by, but in the end they were very flat up front,” Shearer said in his BBC Sport column.
“Liverpool did not really move United’s back four around, or at least did it nowhere near as much as we thought they might do – yes, United did well defensively but Liverpool played into their hands a lot of the time with the number of crosses they put in that were dealt with by Raphael Varane and Jonny Evans.
“There has been plenty of criticism thrown at United in the past few weeks about the lack of effort from some of their players, and talk of unrest in the squad,” the former Newcastle United striker added.
“So, the one thing they had to do on Sunday was be together as a group, and give absolutely everything, and they certainly did that for their fans. It meant their gameplan worked, and a draw was a great result for them.”
“trying to win” the game, much to the annoyance of ex-Man United captain Roy Keane. Shearer admitted that he “felt a bit sorry” for Man United striker Rasmus Hojlund, battling with Van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate, but insisted that the away side could have easily taken three points.
“United were set up to contain Liverpool but I think they had to play that way, because they did not have the tools to take the game to them and open them up,” the pundit continued.
“In the end, though, it was United who had the best chance to win it through Rasmus Hojlund, who was denied by Alisson after being put through.”
