In the 26th week of the Premier League, Manchester United, a team that had been in good form recently came face to face with Liverpool. Liverpool absolutely humiliated Manchester United and won the match with a shocking score of 7-0. With this score, Liverpool achieved the biggest score difference in their history against Manchester United and set a new record. On top of that, Mohamed Salah managed to score in his last 6 games against Manchester United and with his 2nd goal in the match, he scored his 129th goal for Liverpool in the Premier League. With this goal, Mohamed Salah became the top goalscorer for Liverpool in the Premier League. The starting 11s of the two teams were as follows:
LIVERPOOL IN POSSESSION
Looking at the possession rates in the match, it can be seen that Liverpool had more possession with 60%. Of course, one of the biggest factors in this was Liverpool's ability to break Manchester United's pressure. Liverpool lined up in a 4-3-3 formation during their attacks, Manchester United defended against these attacks by pressing up high in a 4-3-3 formation. But the biggest flaw in Manchester United's pressing system was that elite full-backs such as Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson were left free and had plenty of space to dribble.
When the centre-backs received the ball during Liverpool's attacks, the Manchester United players applied pressure on them with 2 players. Rashford applied pressure on the centre-back with the ball, while the ball-far centre-back was subjected to pressure by the winger that was on the same side. Manchester United also created 1 v 1 match-ups with the Liverpool midfielders. United also matched man-to-man with Liverpool's wingers, with 2 centre-backs covering the striker. This meant that one of the centre-backs had the option to support the full-backs against the opposing wingers. The biggest problem with this formation, however, was that the Liverpool full-back on the ball-far side was left free. Since the beginning of the season, Manchester United, under the leadership of Erik Ten Hag, had not involved their full-backs in the pressing up front, which left the opposition full-back open in such situations. Liverpool's full-backs Alexander-Arnold and Robertson are talented on the ball, which allowed Liverpool to exploit this weakness.
When Van Dijk receives the ball, the Manchester United front line applies pressure on the centre-backs. In addition, Manchester United's midfielders match-up with Liverpool's midfielders man-to-man and in defence, they create 1 v 1 match-ups Liverpool's wingers. All this results in a 4-3-3 formation
In this example from the match, Rashford applies pressure on Van Dijk in the build-up and is joined up front by Bruno Fernandes. Manchester United match-up with Liverpool midfielders 1 v 1 with Trent Alexander-Arnold ending up free on the right
When Liverpool used Alisson during the build-up, Rashford would apply pressure Alisson, while both wingers would apply pressure on the Liverpool centre-backs. In such situations, Liverpool's two full-backs also had the chance to freely play with the ball. The fact that Alexander-Arnold and Robertson had the highest number of touches (79) in the match proves this thesis.
When Alisson had the ball the Manchester United front line applied pressure on the goalkeeper and the centre-backs, while the midfielders created 1v1 match-ups with the Liverpool midfielders, this resulted in the 4-3-3 formation seen above
In this situation right before the 1st goal, Manchester United's front three are applying pressure on the centre-backs and the goalkeeper. In the midfield, Fred matches up with Henderson and Weghorst matches up with Fabinho , but Gakpo, who has dropped back from the front line, is wide open
Another strategy used by Liverpool during their attacks was for Gakpo to come back and disrupt the balance in the midfield, creating a 4v3 player advantage. When Manchester United wanted to prevent this, Varane followed Gakpo into the midfield and prevented him from finding space. However, this created a big gap in the defence and Nunez was able to get behind the defence in these situations.
In this position, with Van Dijk on the ball, Gakpo drops back and brings Varane with him. Seeing the gap in the defence, Van Dijk tries to send the ball to Darwin Nunez behind the defence, but Dalot intervenes
LIVERPOOL'S 1ST GOAL
During their 1st goal, Liverpool exploited Manchester United's defensive weaknesses very well. When the ball came to Konate, Robertson was free in the box and after Konate's pass to him, goalkeeper Alisson sent the ball to Robertson on the opposite flank. Robertson was pressed by Dalot, creating a gap on the right side of the defence. Nunez stayed in the middle, allowing Varane to mark him, therefore preventing him from moving to the right side of the defensive line. Robertson, coming inwards and seeing this gap, played a through pass behind Fred to Gakpo, who sent the ball flying into the net after eluding Varane. Of course, Fred's wrong positioning, his unfamiliarity to the right-back position and his inability to cut of the pass were important factors in the goal. But the real source of the goal was an elite full-back like Robertson being able to be so comfortable with the ball and Manchester United's defensive formation breaking down while trying to defend against Robertson.
Robertson receives the ball on the left and Gakpo runs into the space created by Dalot leaving his area
Robertson, who is moving towards the goal, points with his hand to where Gakpo should make a run. Fred is caught wide and Gakpo scores after receiving the ball
manchester united in possession
When Manchester United had possession, Liverpool applied pressure with a more successful system in comparison to Manchester United. When the ball came to the visitors' centre-backs, Gakpo dropped back and covered the number 6, with wingers Salah and Nunez pressing the centre-backs. When the ball came to the Manchester United full-backs, Liverpool's No.8s Elliot and Henderson went out to the flanks and applied pressure on the full-backs. Gakpo dropping back and covering Casemiro prevented the Manchester full-backs from easily turning into the midfield and exploiting the space there. Also Marcus Rashford didn't drop back and create a numerical advantage like Gakpo did. Therefore, he didn't make Liverpool's job any harder.
The formation that formed with the wingers applying pressure on the centre-backs, Gakpo dropping back and covering the number 6 and the Liverpool number 8s applying pressure on the full-backs when they had the ball
In this situation, Henderson sees the ball heading towards Dalot and runs to apply pressure on Dalot. At the same time we see the following match-ups: Salah- Martinez, Nunez- Varane, Gakpo- Casemiro and Elliot- Shaw
However, in this system, if the Manchester United full-backs received the ball deeper on the pitch, the No.8s could not come to their aid immediately, thus exposing the Liverpool full-backs to a 2 to 1 advantage. Therefore, especially in the second half, Klopp took advantage of the 1-0 lead and introduced a more passive pressing structure. Instead of the wingers applying pressure on the centre-backs, he wanted them to position themselves wider and press the full-backs. In this case, Gakpo applied pressure on the centre-backs instead of going back and covering the number 6. When a second player was needed to apply pressure on the centre-backs, the number 8 joined in instead of the player on the wing. Liverpool also scored a goal thanks to this modified pressing system.
For example, in this situation, with Salah up front and Elliot unable to apply pressure on Shaw, Luke Shaw is left open. When Trent Alexander-Arnold sees that Shaw is free and moves forward to defend against him, a gap in the defence is created. Seeing this gap, Martinez uses his passing ability and passes the ball to Bruno Fernandes, who gets behind the defence. But Bruno is offside and the position is inconclusive
Before the 2nd goal, Elliot applies pressure on the left centre-back, while Mohamed Salah applies pressure on Luke Shaw. Luke Shaw's pass is intercepted by Elliot who steals the ball, this later results in a goal
conclusion
Liverpool used their full-backs very well throughout the match and scored 7 goals to humiliate Manchester United at Anfield. Manchester United fell apart after the consecutive goals and couldn't hold on to the game after that. Marcus Rashford, who has been in form for the Red Devils lately, was ineffective in this match. I think Erik Ten Hag should have used Rashford on the left wing, not as a number 9 and exploited Trent Alexander-Arnold's defensive weaknesses. Bruno Fernandes, playing on the left instead of Rashford, couldn't get behind the defence and exploit Trent's weaknesses. At number 9, Rashford couldn't get the upper hand on Konate and was extremely ineffective. Manchester United's failure to involve their full-backs in the pressure up front was also decisive in the outcome of this match. Since the beginning of the season Erik Ten Hag has not wanted his full-backs to be involved in the pressing up front. One of the main reasons for this is that he doesn't want to leave the defensive line 1 v 1 and with the full-backs coming forward, the opposition can take advantage of this weakness and attack after gaining control of long balls . The away team couldn't stop the Liverpool fullbacks and played very poorly in the 2nd half. I also think it was a mistake to start Dalot instead of Wan Bissaka. In this game Dalot always stayed behind and couldn't help Antony up front. If Dalot was always going to be a staying on the defensive line, he could have started with Wan Bissaka instead, taking advantage of his defensive qualities and him being a good 1v1 defender. Luck also favored the hosts in the match, resulting in a score that is hard to believe, 7-0. With this score the "Red Devils" suffered a heavy blow.
