LIVERPOOL 3-0 MAN UTD: Erik ten Hag saw problems at both sides of the pitch look clear for his side as Arne Slot got the better of his fellow Dutchman in pre-season
English football’s two most successful clubs and fiercest rivals met in South Carolina – with Liverpool coming out on top against Manchester United.
Despite playing one game fewer in pre-season than Erik ten Hag’s United, Arne Slot’s Liverpool dominated at the Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, in front of a capacity crowd of 77,559.
Goals from Fabio Carvalho, Curtis Jones and Kostas Tsimikas gave Liverpool a deserved win over United, who struggled to match their rivals and suffered a chastening defeat ahead of the Community Shield against Manchester City on Saturday.
Here are five talking points from the last US tour games for both teams, who flew back home straight after the game.
United suspect at the back
It says everything about United’s paucity of defensive options, following the injury to £59million signing Leny Yoro in the tour opener against Arsenal, which will keep him out for three months, that Ten Hag was forced to leave Harry Maguire out of the Liverpool game as a precaution. Without Yoro, Ten Hag is down to three centre-backs in Maguire, Jonny Evans and Victor Lindelof, and cannot afford to lose any of them to injury.
Liverpool raced to a 2-0 lead by half-time, with slack defending from United aiding their arch rivals with both goals. It does not help Ten Hag that two of his makeshift back four – Lindelof and Aaron Wan-Bissaka – are likely to leave for the right fee, while 17-year-old left-back Harry Amass, playing in the absence of Luke Shaw and Diogo Dalot, was up against a stern test in Mo Salah.
Ten Hag wants two more defensive signings before the transfer window and this performance showed just why. Lisandro Martinez will return to training this week, along with Shaw, but United need to add another defender before the window shuts.
Rashford looks sharp ahead of new season
After last season’s problems on and off the field, which saw him manage just eight goals and miss out on a place in England’s Euro 2024 squad, there is huge expectation on Marcus Rashford ahead of the new campaign. After Ten Hag challenged Rashford to maintain his focus on and off the pitch, Rashford responded in the right way, with impressive performances on tour, culminating in his effective display against Liverpool, following an assist against Arsenal and a goal and an assist against Betis.
After turning Jarell Quansah and leaving him in his trail, Rashford did the same to Harvey Elliott in the penalty area, but dragged his angled shot wide. Much is expected of Rashford this coming season, after failing to play anywhere near his best last term, and his ebullient first-half display suggested he has shaken off the lethargy that blighted him last season and is ready to hit the ground running.
Mount shows glimpses of return to form
Another player with a point to prove this coming season, after a nightmare first campaign at United, is Mason Mount. Mount’s debut season at United, following his £60 million move from Chelsea, was wrecked by injury and poor form on the brief occasions he was fit. The midfielder only made five Premier League starts and, like Rashford, missed out on a place in England’s squad for Euro 2024.
Like Rashford, too, Mount was lively, picking up some dangerous positions with clever movement and getting in behind Liverpool’s defence to create openings, albeit ones that ultimately came to nothing. He shot straight at Caoimhin Kelleher early on, then ran on to a clever ball from Casemiro, but was thwarted again by the Liverpool keeper. Mount then produced a fine cross for Jadon Sancho, who should have directed his header on target.
Elliott underlines importance
After providing both assists for the goals in Liverpool’s 2-1 win over Arsenal in Philadelphia, Harvey Elliott earned high praise from new head coach Slot. The Anfield boss will have been even more impressed with Elliott’s energetic and enterprising role against United, with the attacking midfielder at the heart of his side’s expansive display against their arch rivals.
Elliott, playing in a No.10 role but with the licence to drift out wide, was arguably Liverpool’s most dynamic and creative player, suggesting he could become a focal point of Slot’s new team, something he did not achieve under Jurgen Klopp. Last season, Elliott started just 11 Premier League games. On the evidence of this influential 65-minute performance, the 21-year-old is certain to improve on that figure this season.
Last season, on their way to a lowest-ever Premier League finish of eighth, United were the joint lowest scorers in the top 10, with a meagre 57 goals. A hamstring injury suffered by Rasmus Hojlund, after scoring early on against Arsenal in LA, has ruled the striker out for at least six weeks and given Ten Hag a major headache in terms of who plays up front and where the goals are going to come from.
Jadon Sancho played as a false nine against Betis and Liverpool, but failed to convince there, while Rashford prefers to start on the left and come inside. New signing Joshua Zirkzee, recruited from Bologna for £36.5m, did not join up with United on their tour, staying in Manchester to begin his pre-season, and remains something of an unknown quantity.
It is therefore difficult to see who is going to score the goals for United, in the enforced absence of Hojlund. Against that backdrop, there is an argument United need another striker as much as another defender, but their transfer budget – which has been tightened to comply with profit and sustainability rules – is unlikely to stretch to both, unless significant funds can be raised through player sales.