da aviator aposta： Ha! Fooled you!
da bwin： Admit it; you thought ‘Red Monday’ would be the greatest night in the history of the Premier League, a changing of the philosophical guard at the English top flight’s summit, an orgasmic goal fest that would leave Gary Neville making animalistic grunts into Martin Tyler’s ear, a 90 minutes so outrageous it would make South Park look like an episode of Playdays, a footballing classic that would be whispered to children around campfires in the decades to come, exaggeration expanding with every generation.
Inevitably, the game ended nil-nil, with Liverpool and Manchester United failing to muster up a clear chance between them and spending the majority of the match jostling rather aimlessly in midfield. Even the usually explosive Jurgen Klopp was decisively unexcited, watering down his habitual touchline antics and keeping his bum firmly in the dugout for practically the entire evening.
You were probably convinced last night’s game would pan out considerably differently by the pre-match buildup – namely Sky Sports screaming RED MONDAY at you every time you turn on your TV.
But the power of hindsight is a wonderful thing and looking back, the Anfield contest was always going to be a drab scoreless draw. Here are THREE reasons why…
LIVERPOOL WERE WITHOUT KEY PLAYERS
Had Liverpool been at full strength for yesterday’s game, perhaps it would have panned out differently. Georginio Wijnaldum and Adam Lallana were both facing late fitness tests ahead of United’s visit to Merseyside and although the latter came on as a second-half substitute, their absence from their starting XI made a huge difference to the way Liverpool played.
Indeed, Jurgen Klopp felt compelled to switch his formation to a 4-2-3-1 and replacement Emre Can just couldn’t join in the high-pressing game with the same energy and tenacity as the aforementioned duo. Likewise, the engine room lacked it’s usual flow without Wijnaldum subtly, yet effectively, pulling the strings and linking the midfield with the attack.
Of course, United could have capitalised on Liverpool’s change in personnel, making it a more exciting game. But as we’ll come onto in a moment…
MOURINHO THE MASTER OF THE AWAY DRAW
There’s been much debate about Manchester United’s philosophy in the aftermath of last night’s performance, which saw the Red Devils camped behind the ball, rarely take risks going forward. But should we really have expected anything else from the Special One?
Without a doubt, no manager in the Premier League has mastered the art of the away draw better – particularly at Anfield – than Mourinho. In fact, many a title race have been decided by the Portuguese eeking out stalemates on the turf of his divisional rivals, before ensuring vital wins in the return fixtures.
And whilst some may criticise the approach Mourinho took last night, there’s no question a defeat to the North West rivals, especially after losing the Manchester Derby, would have been disastrous for the Portuguese. United would have gone six points behind the Reds, propelling the to the top of the Premier League table.
STRIKERS OUT OF FORM
Having all the attacking talent in the world doesn’t mean a thing if you can’t actually put the ball into the back of the net – something Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Daniel Sturridge, the starting frontmen for either side last night, have struggled to do this season.
Indeed, Zlatan hasn’t scored in the Premier League since the Manchester derby – his only respite being a winner against Zorya in the Europa League – and the Swede’s rustiness showed last night as he failed to get a looped header from a Paul Pogba cross on target in arguably the best chance of the match.
And Sturridge is amid an even more concerning goal drought, yet to hit the onion bag in the top flight this season. In fact, he’s spent significant portions of it stuck on the sidelines.
Both teams lacked ingenuity in the final third and the respective strikers’ shared lack of form could well have been the ultimate cause.