Just 3 weeks after the FA Cup quarter-final defeat to Manchester United, Liverpool will travel to Old Trafford in the framework of round 32 of the Premier League. In the context of the championship race reaching its most intense period, The Kop cannot continue to stumble against The Red Devils.
Not only that, Jurgen Klopp's team needs to learn lessons from the FA Cup quarter-final defeat, thereby aiming to leave Old Trafford with 3 full points.
Although Liverpool are leading the Premier League before round 32, they have had a rather slow start. According to statistics from Opta Analyst, The Kop have conceded goals in 19 matches in all competitions this season. This scenario also appeared in the 3-4 defeat to Man United in the FA Cup quarter-finals, when Liverpool let Scott McTominay open the scoring in the 10th minute. Not only that, in the last three or four visits to Old Trafford, The Kop were also the team that conceded an early goal before the 20th minute.
In contrast to the image of encroaching on the atmosphere of Anfield, Liverpool chose to play safely in the early stages of the match when having to visit Old Trafford. This helped Erik ten Hag's team easily put pressure and launched 6 shots on target towards Liverpool's goal in just the first 13 minutes of the FA Cup quarter-final.
It was only when Alexis Mac Allister and Mohamed Salah raised the score to 2-1 before the break that The Kop gradually regained control of the game against the home team.
Not only having problems defending, Liverpool's attackers also played ineffectively in the FA Cup quarter-finals. According to statistics, Jurgen Klopp's students had 8 shots on target from the beginning of the second half to the 73rd but could not convert them into goals.
Liverpool also doubled Man Utd's possession (up to 61.3%), 10 shots on target, but the expected goals (xG) was only 2.12. Liverpool had 23 shots in the whole match, but only 6 of them had an expected goals (xG) of less than 0.1.
On a day when they could not maintain the pressure and take advantage of the opportunity to finish the match, Liverpool had to pay the price, when Antony equalized 2-2 for the home team when the official playing time was only 3 minutes.
This is not actually a problem that Jurgen Klopp and his team are facing this season. According to statistics, The Kop has had an outstanding number of shots in the Premier League this season, with 430 shots, and is also the representative with the highest expected goals (xG) of 68.07. Therefore, to avoid repeating the mistake in the FA Cup quarter-finals, Jurgen Klopp's team needs to take advantage of every opportunity and maintain enough pressure against Man United.
In addition, the failure of Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez to find a link is also the reason why Liverpool are in a deadlock against Man Utd. According to statistics, after 77 minutes on the field, Salah and Nunez only passed each other 4 times. Not only that, The Kop's attack line also lacks balance, as dangerous attacks are often concentrated on the left wing where Luis Diaz creates a real threat to Man United's defense.
Finally, Jurgen Klopp's team need to pay special attention to Marcus Rashford - a name very talented with Liverpool's net, especially when playing at Old Trafford. According to statistics, the English striker has 7 goals after 17 matches against Liverpool in all competitions and all of them were at Old Trafford.
Despite his disappointing form, the striker born in 1997 still shined with a 3-3 equalizer in extra time, creating 5 chances (equal to Alejandro Garnacho and the most on the field).
In the context of the championship race reaching its most intense period, Liverpool, Arsenal and Man City are cautious and take advantage of each point in each round. Therefore, a victory over Man United in the English derby not only helps Liverpool return to the top of the table, it also gives Jurgen Klopp and his team more motivation in the race for the Premier League championship.
