Liverpool’s Frustrating Stalemate: A Missed Opportunity at Old Trafford

Missed Opportunities Galore

How many chances do you want? That was the cry from the first half as Liverpool passed up chance after chance after chance (genuinely could type this repeatedly). What are you doing?!??! Was the cry in the second half as Liverpool decided to self-combust at Old Trafford and let off a United side who they should have buried by some distance. Jurgen Klopp was rightly fuming at times and even he will need to look at himself in this one. It wasn’t a defeat but it felt like one you could see the disappointment and attempts to rally the away fans at full time. You wonder what that’s done but all that’s certain is it isn’t in our hands anymore. We look at the lessons learned from the Sunday encounter.

Wastefulness….The End

You’d struggle to get any red to remember every chance we missed in a memory test from this one. By half time, United hasn’t had a single shot. In contrast the reds had registered 14 shots with 4 on target. Even by the time the whistle went, Salah had skyed one (he repeated the trick in the second half too), Szoboszlai had made the wrong decision repeatedly on the break and what in earth was going through Nunez’s mind when Diaz squared for him is anyone’s guess. There were a few good saves and the odd block here and there, but Liverpool have no-one else left to blame but themselves.

Forward Line Under Scrutiny

We’d have sold a kidney to have Diogo Jota on the pitch for this one. You’d have backed him to score and even though the others all contributed, it was more what they didn’t. Salah and Diaz have a goal each and Nunez gets the assist. However, there’s starting to be a theme with these three which is concerning. Salah missed repeatedly against Brighton (12 shots in that one) and there was really no excuse for the two he missed point blank. Diaz gets a pass as he was leaning back for that late one, but Nunez’s miss as we said above. You can point to other things, but it’s right to be a bit worried about the chances they’re missing just now. City look clinical and Arsenal aren’t conceding at the moment. They’re the two things you can’t say about us just now.

Some Brilliance But Doesn’t Feel Like It

This one will hurt for a while, no doubts about it and it wasn’t even a defeat. Whilst his midfield colleagues offered little support at times, Alexis Mac Allister was single-handedly carrying that area was he won the most duels on the pitch (8), the most tackles (3) and the most recoveries (13). He controlled the game and if his team mates had done the business we’d be eulogising about it. Harvey Elliott was sensational and won a penalty and Curtis Jones brought a semblance of calm. However, when Quansah plays a pass like that and the forwards miss what they do, it’s hard to be too positive. Onto the next one I suppose.