Match Report: Liverpool 1 - Manchester United 2

Match Day: Sunday 19th October 2025 (16:30)

Liverpool Scorer's:

Gakpo (78')

Man Utd. Scorer's:

Bryan Mbeumo (2')

Maguire (84')

Lineup: Lineup

Match Report:

Well they did it again !!! - yes somehow after spending near enough 450M on new players they have lost 4 games in a row now.  We all hoped that after the international break, where many of the players scored for their respective national teams; many would come back refreshed and with their scoring boots on.  Oh how it all went wrong from the 2nd minute of this fixture and at fortress Anfield of all places.

Unlike previous reports - I am not going to describe every detail of what happened in this game except highlight what I thought were key moments.  Giving away stupid goals has been a major feature of this team since the start of the season, call it miss-communication, bozo moments, or just laziness - it was all on display from minute two of this game.  We have our Captain Aura (Virgil) running back gently, looking to his right at the man who is about to cross the ball for United and completely missing the fact that Ryan Mbeumo is speeding past him to his left, and unaware that his team-mate Konate is having to cover the run of another united player, and had to break that cover to try and stop Mbeumo - of course he failed through no fault of his own but at least Konate was awake.  Situations like this should NOT be happening, it is as though the back-line goes to sleep and miss-judges the run of opposition players on a regular basis, and even if they do - they seem to want to wait too see what that player does - and in most cases from game one of the season the player being watched goes onto score.

The first half had enough chances for both teams to go in at the end of it with a score of 3-3 but Liverpool again showed their complete impotence in front of goal.  Cody Gakpo would hit the bar twice, Alexander Isak would miss a goal that you expect him to score.  Meanwhile Maramdashvili would have to make a double save from chance carved out by United, and Bruno Fernandez would miss a clear path shot on goal from outside the box.  Alexis Mac Allister had an up and down game, missing in midfield where you would expect him to try and control the game over the aging Casimero, but turning up and having a couple of shots on goal that under good form - I am certain he would have scored.

The second half Slot did not waste his time, and bought on Curtis Jones, Wirtz, and Ekitike (all on in the 60th minute) - immediately the attack seemed more focused and a lot more aggressive with Ekitike.  Wirtz was also having a better game for Liverpool in those empty pockets, but when Chiesa was introduced for Isak, there was added will and aggression to the front line of attackers, and on the 78th minute passes between Wirtz and Chiesa led to Chiesa finding Gakpo who slotted from close range.  However, the joy was short lived, as only 6 minutes later United would go onto score their winning goal through a delicate cross from Bruno Fernandez finding Harry Maguire's head who headed the ball beyond Marmadashvili's right and into the net.  Liverpool still had a clear chance to equalize in normal time when Frimpong came on for the ineffectual Salah (another bad game).  He put in a perfect ball for Cody Gakpo to score a header into an open goal who inexplicably missed from one yard out.  It was a shocking miss.  Incidentally Gakpo's overall XG rating for this game was more than the entire United team's for the whole game.

It was a deserved loss for Liverpool because of their lackluster first half display which was full of miss-judgements and ill-timed shots.  A few things have come to light after this game, the first is that Curtis Jones must start ahead of Mac Allister until Mac Allister sorts himself out, his introduction in the second half meant better ball retention and forward progression play.  Ekitike losing his place to Isak through no fault of his own other than Isak costing substantially more in market value seems to have made him more desperate to score regardless of where he has the ball, his two long range shots were rather too ambitious when a pass to keep the flow of the move going would have served better in both situations.  The other player who needs to start and I would go as far as saying ahead of Salah is Chiesa, yet again he showed energy and a willingness to bring his team-mates into play - he knows what serves the team best and not himself.   Finally, it has to be mentioned that Konate had an outstanding game, covering on many occasions for his esteemed colleague Virgil.  

Liverpool's next game is the Champions League fixture against Ekitike's old team Einhart Frankfurt - Liverpool need to win their next game, and they will be up against another basketball team like them, so even if they win the upcoming fixture - I would urge all supporters not to read too much into the result (especially if we win) as it will not be an indicator for their next Premier League game against Brentford away.