One of Liverpool's outstanding features under coach Arne Slot is their desire to control. While Jurgen Klopp has brought energetic "heavy-metal" football, his successor likes to keep things below. Simply put, the Dutch strategist did not want his team to get caught up in the fast pace of competition.
Therefore, Slot will not be satisfied with Liverpool's frequency of losing possession against Man United. The "Red Brigade" often lost the ball and created valuable scoring opportunities for their opponents.
Before this match, Liverpool were expected to once again "fly" Man United at Anfield. In addition, coach Ruben Amorim's team has lost 3 consecutive Premier League matches before facing Liverpool.
However, like what they did at Anfield last season, Man United know how to deal with it to discourage the home team. Meanwhile, they also brought some threats at the other end of the pitch.
There was no time in a match where Liverpool really dominated Man United for a long time. The home team's dominance is only a fleeting thing.
For neutral fans, this is an extremely attractive match. However, Slot will be worried that the "Red Devils" could sow unstable seeds for his players.
Andy Robertson's poor pass to Ryan Gravenberch, when the ball went straight out of the field as Liverpool needed a decisive goal in the 95th minute, was typical of the home team's somewhat inconsistent performance.
The draw with Man United means Liverpool are now 6 points ahead of 2nd-placed Arsenal and have 1 match left to play. When asked if this result was like a loss of 2 points, Slot said:
"Of course, for us, it felt like losing two points. I think for many people, what is left in their minds is what happened at the end of the match. And that was a big opportunity for Harry Maguire. But I think what people forget is that 2 minutes ago Virgil van Dijk also had such a great chance to increase the score to 3-2.
In the end, it was a difficult match, perhaps a bit similar to the match against Nottingham Forest, where the playing style of both teams was low-level defense with many players. It's not always easy to face that style of football."
