3 games without a goal: But did it go wrong for Liverpool against Manchester United?

On Sunday, we saw the biggest game of the season play out between first-placed Manchester United and second-placed Liverpool in the Premier League; a game of historical significance. This tactical analysis will take a detailed view of both side’s tactics, and why it ended as a goalless draw.

Under Ole Gunnar Solskjær this season, United have opted for either a 4-2-3-1 or a 3-4-1-2 in big games, and the question was which formation he would select, and how significant this choice would be, come full time. For Liverpool, Jürgen Klopp had a few tactical dilemmas of his own to decide upon as well, namely his centre-back duo and midfield selection, and in this analysis, we will break down what effects these choices had.

Lineups

Liverpool (4-3-3): Alisson Becker; Trent Alexander-Arnold, Fabinho, Jordan Henderson (c), Andrew Robertson; Xherdan Shaqiri, Thiago Alcántara, Georginio Wijnaldum; Mohammed Salah, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mané.

Of course, Klopp has been contending with a multitude of injuries across the course of the season, and the return of former Bayern Munich orchestrator, Thiago into the midfield was welcomed with open arms. Rhys Williams was not given the starting berth here, with Klopp opting to go with Henderson at centre-back (paired with Fabinho), which arose its issues as the game went on, as we will discuss later on in the analysis.