Man Utd vs Liverpool LIVE RESULT: Rampant Reds dominate at Old Trafford as Diaz double & Salah goal sink Ten Hag’s side
LIVERPOOL ran riot at Old Trafford as the Reds put Manchester United to the sword.
Luis Diaz scored twice just before half-time - with Casemiro making poor errors for both goals - to put Arne Slot's new look Liverpool well on top.
Mo Salah then added a third after another mistake in the Manchester United midfield, leaving Erik ten Hag's team with just one win from their opening three.
- Man Utd team: Onana; Mazraoui, De Ligt, Martinez, Dalot; Casemiro, Mainoo, Fernandes; Garnacho, Zirkzee, Rashford
- Liverpool team: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Konaté, Van Dijk, Robertson; Mac Allister, Gravenberch; Salah, Szoboszlai, Luis Díaz; Diogo Jota
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Blimey
Didn't realise that! Liverpool forward Diogo Jota doesn't half enjoy playing against Manchester United.
He's played against the Red Devils nine times for Wolves and Liverpool -- he's won six, drawn three, scored four goals and provided two assists!
Diogo diamondCredit: GETTY We rise
Manchester United managewr Erik ten hag, speaking to Sky Sports on his team selection: "It is not about Matthijs de Ligt for Harry Maguire. We have a good squad we can pick and in the approach to an opponent against a fluid opposition, Matthijs fits better."
On striker Joshua Zirkzee's inclusion: "First of all he just needed time to adapt, fitness wise. Now, he is there and up to speed. He is ready for it."
On rising to the occasion: "We are quite good in certain circumstances, we rise to the occasion. We love to play in such circumstances - we are really looking forward to it."
On Arne Slot's style compared to Jurgen Klopp's: "Everyone has seen, it is not a secret. In possession there is less go straight forward. It is more calm and composed, one of their strength is attacking transitions -- we have to be ready for this.
"What is still the strength is their pressing, they have a good press and a very aggressive press."
Building
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FT
Newcastle clinch a 2-1 victory over Tottenham courtesy of a late-ish winner from striker Alexander Isak, who I decided to take out of my Fantasy Football team for some unknown reason.
Unpredictable Chelsea continued to be… unpredictable with a 1-1 draw against winless Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge.
Nicolas Jackson - who is now contracted until June 2033 - scored their goal in the first half but Eberechi Eze secured a point for the Eagles.
Chelsea had 62% possession and 13 efforts on goal today.
Why?
Why indeed. Why is this match taking place at 4pm instead of 4.30pm as we've come to expect?
I think you can probably guess. The reason for the match being moved is due to the rivalry between the clubs, with police and local authorities keen to avoid fan trouble and disorder.
Police research has shown that moving matches – even by a small amount of time – has a positive impact on reducing crowd trouble.
Mystery solved.
Credit: GETTY Match stats
- Manchester United have won just one of their last 12 Premier League meetings with Liverpool (D5 L6), beating them 2-1 at Old Trafford in their third game of the 2022-23 campaign.
- Liverpool have lost just one of their last six Premier League away games against Manchester United (W2 D3), while only Manchester City (9) have won away at Old Trafford more often than the Reds (7) in the competition’s history.
- No team has had more shots than Liverpool in the Premier League this season (37), while the Reds also have the highest expected goals total (5.3) and the lowest expected goals against total (1) so far.
- Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah is the highest scoring visiting player to Old Trafford in Premier League history (6 goals), while the Egyptian has netted in each of his last six away games against Man Utd in all competitions (9 goals in total).
Special game - Arne Slot
Liverpool boss Arne Slot, speaking to Sky Sports ahead of today's fixture: "We all understand that this is a special game in English football and we have tried to prepare in the best possible way.
"United showed last season that in a cup final they could even beat Man City. You know how much quality is in this team and they have brought a couple of extra players in.
"On both games [this season in the Premier League] we were dominant and I would be surprised if that was the case today. There will be times today which will be difficult and I am curious how we react to that."
They are in a different phase - Ten Hag
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag appears to have subtly lowered expectations with his comments ahead of this encounter.
The Dutchman thinks the two sides are still at different phases of the "life cycle" with United still having to build a brand new team.
He said: "Liverpool are in a different phase of the life cycle and they have a team that’s mature – players who are already playing a long time together and who are very experienced. We are much more mixed and we have to build a new team.
"The players, the partnerships and relationships in that team are very clear, that is what (Arne Slot) inherited and is built over the past years. Things are still the same, but also I have seen some things he has already brought in."
Erik ten Hag has been at Old Trafford for over two years and 117 games now, FYI.
Goal incoming
I know, I'm doubling down by jinxing this contest.
Alan Shearer thinks we'll be seeing our fair share of goals at Old Trafford this afternoon, and he's predicting a score draw.
He told : "I haven't seen a lot that's changed from last year at Manchester United, and I know they've still got injuries, and I know they're also bringing in a new midfielder in Manuel Ugarte, but not much has changed in terms of their performances against Fulham and especially, against Brighton.
"They went to sleep on two occasions and were punished. They didn't look good in forward positions either.
"Ultimately when you look at Man United last weekend against Brighton and the lapses in concentration defensively, if they don't improve that then Liverpool's front line will have huge success.
"There'll be goals in the game, and I think it could be a score-draw at Old Trafford on Sunday. I've mentioned Man United can save their best for the biggest games, and this is one of those."
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Clean sweep?
Look I don't want to curse it, and I know the risk I'm taking here to inform you that there's not been a single clean sheet in NINE Premier League matches so far this weekend.
Just Manchester United vs Liverpool for the clean sweep.
Latest
Elsewhere it's all square!
Chelsea took a first-half lead through Nicolas Jackson but they've been pegged back by Eberechi Eze with Crystal Palace now in the ascendancy.
It's also 1-1 at St James' Park with Harvey Barnes scoring Newcastle's goal. Dan Burn has just thumped it into his own net to level the scores.
Around 25 minutes remaining in those ones. And a Cole Palmer goal would be greatly appreciated for Fantasy Football purposes…
FPL captain...Credit: GETTY Team News
Manchester United manager Erik tan Hag has made three changes from the side who lost to Brighton last time out.
Matthijs de Ligt, Joshua Zirkzee and Alejandro Garnacho replace Harry Maguire, Mason Mount and Amad Diallo.
Liverpool name the same XI who beat Brentford - so that's Luiz Diaz, Diogo Jota and Mohamed Salah in attack. As expected, new signing Federico Chiesa isn't in the squad.
Line-ups
Here they are folks, today's starting XI's.
Manchester United XI: Onana, Mazraoui, De Ligt, Martinez, Fernandes, Rashford, Zirkzee, Garnacho, Casemiro, Dalot, Mainoo.
Subs: Bayindir, Heaton, Maguire, Eriksen, Diallo, Antony, Evans, Wheatley, Collyer.
Liverpool XI: Alisson, Van Dijk, Konate, Diaz, Szoboszlai, Mac Allister, Salah, Jota, Robertson, Gravenberch, Alexander-Arnold.
Subs: Kelleher, Gomez, Endo, Nunez, Gakpo, Elliott, Tsimikas, Quansah, Bradley.
Record
Erik ten Hag and Arne Slot met four times during in the Dutch Eredivisie – Slot’s AZ beat Ten Hag’s Ajax twice in 2019-20, before Ten Hag beat Slot’s Feyenoord in both matches in the 2021-22 campaign.
Note: Picture may be Erik ten Hag and Arne Slot or Walter White and Hank from Break Bad. Can't tell.
Credit: TWITTER All smiles... for now
Paul Scholes and Michael Owen doing banterCredit: GETTY 
Erik ten Hag and Roy Keane doing banterCredit: GETTY 
Bruno Fernandes doing no banterCredit: GETTY
Form
Manchester United kicked things off with a credible 1-0 win over Fulham on the opening day of the campaign, but that good start was quickly extinguished at Brighton.
The Red Devils suffered a stoppage-time defeat to the Seagulls, which I believe is the SIXTH injury-time goal scored against United during Erik ten Hag's tenure.
As for Liverpool, it's been rather simple and straightforward. Two matches, two 2-0 wins. The Reds could win their opening three Premier League games without conceding for only the third time and first since 2018-19, when they defeated Manchester United 1-0 in their third fixture.
Team News
Not a great deal to see here.
Mason Mount is likely to miss several weeks after sustaining another hamstring injury. Rasmus Hojlund, Victor Lindelof, Luke Shaw, Leny Yoro and Tyrell Malacia are all sidelined.
Liverpool's new signing Federico Chiesa isn't included in the squad. He needs some time to train and adapt according to his manager.
Starting XI's will be out very shortly.
Afternoon
Hello folks and welcome to our LIVE minute-by-minute coverage of Manchester United vs Liverpool from Old Trafford.
The heavyweights will renew their rivalry in around 90 minutes or so.
But there's another rivalry bubbling under the surface -- that of the hairless Dutchmen (terrific name for a band if not already taken).
Anyway, Erik ten Hag and Liverpool's new manager Arne Slot go head-to-head having faced each other five times in the Netherlands previously.
We'll get into all that shortly, along with the team news, starting XI's and what's happening in today's other matches.
The hairless DutchmenCredit: GETTY