Liverpool vs Man Utd LIVE: Premier League result, final score after Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah goals
Liverpool 7-0 Man Utd: Jurgen Klopp’s Red demolish Man Utd in second half thrashing at Anfield
Mohamed Salah became Liverpool’s record Premier League scorer as they humiliated Manchester United and ended any chance of Erik ten Hag’s men joining the title race in an historic 7-0 mauling at Anfield.
The new look forward pairing of Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo each scored twice to help Liverpool to the largest victory in the fixture’s 211-match history.
Three goals came in a seven-minute spell either side of half-time which left the United shellshocked and extended their run of not winning at Anfield since Jurgen Klopp’s first encounter with them in January 2016.
Salah then provided a timely reminder of his enduring qualities with two goals of his own to go past Robbie Fowler as the club’s record Premier League scorer with his 128th and 129th goals.
The icing on the cake was a final goal from substitute Roberto Firmino, who on Friday told the club he would be ending his eight-year stay at Anfield in the summer.
Relive the action from an unbelievable Liverpool victory over Manchester United in the Premier League:
Reaction from Cody Gakpo
“Everyone told me a lot about this game before. I knew it was big for the club and the fans and for ourselves for the situation we are in. We were motivated and when we put in a performance like this it is amazing.
“We were determined, eager to keep going and pressing them. In the end we got enough chances and everyone got the luck on their side today and that is amazing and we scored seven. But there are still things we can improve.
“We have to keep going and keep working hard and keep the mentality going.”
How Manchester United closed Liverpool’s six-year lead in just six months
The gap stands at 10 points. Go back to last April, however, and it was six years. “We have to accept they are six years ahead of us now,” said Ralf Rangnick after Liverpool beat Manchester United 4-0. It completed a 9-0 aggregate triumph over the league season, the biggest in a rivalry that dates back to 1895.
Rangnick’s penchant for straight talking probably did not endear him to his paymasters – saying United needed “open-heart surgery” was an indictment of the Glazers and Ed Woodward as well as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and the players – yet in its own way it was uncontroversial. United had wasted years while Liverpool’s superior strategy had given them a huge advantage. Manchester United managers are not supposed to describe Manchester City or Liverpool are role models but by that stage Rangnick often did. With Liverpool chasing the quadruple and United mired in their worst season since the 1980s, they had greater problems than the lack of diplomacy an interim manager displayed.
Liverpool finished 34 points ahead of their rivals last season; their goal difference was plus 68, United’s was zero. They were divided by an oceanic gulf, not the distance of the East Lancs Road. And now they are separated by 10 points: even that may have represented progress but for the telling detail. It is in United’s favour.
How Man Utd closed Liverpool’s six-year lead in just six months
United’s transformation under Erik ten Hag has left Ralf Rangnick looking like the man who underestimated his successor
Liverpool vs Man Utd
Manchester United have lost just one of their last 11 Premier League games (with eight wins and two draws) - a 3-2 defeat at Arsenal in January.
United have earned 23 points since the World Cup - no side has won more points during this period.
Liverpool vs Man Utd
Liverpool have won three of their last four Premier League games, after failing to win any of the first four matches of 2023.
The Reds can remain unbeaten in five consecutive league matches for the first time this season if they avoid losing to Man Utd at Anfield.
Klopp on Liverpool’s recent form
As part of his pre-match media duties Jurgen Klopp was asked to sum up Liverpool’s recent up and down form and he replied:
“I said before the last game this is a week where I would like to give the season a proper push. With the last game and the way it went and the result, obviously we did that and now we have to make the next steps.
“There’s no doubt about it that nothing is done yet but that’s good, that’s good for us. Yes, we have strong opponents; United, others will come, we have to go to other places and these kinds of things.
“But we all know in football everything is possible so we just have to make sure that we are always 100 per cent ready and that we want it this little bit more than the other guys, and that we use in the home game moments our crowd in the right manner and that we really go for it.
“So many things are possible, nobody knows where we will end up. But, how I said, I would like to squeeze everything out of the season and that means finish as high as you somehow can – but nobody knows where that will be in the moment.
“We just have to make the decisive steps and the next one is another decisive one and then we go from there because the next game is coming up, we go to Bournemouth, which is super-important, and all these kinds of things. I’m really fine. It’s much better to sit here facing your questions when you won the last game.
“That’s my first motivation, that’s why I want to win it! That we have a press conference after and don’t have to look at your faces and answer all the average, rubbish questions!
“I will tell then the boys they can make my life a little bit easier. But on top of that obviously we have five million reasons why we want to win this game. Let’s give it a try.”
Why the power in Liverpool and Manchester United’s rivalry is set for another shift
Within both Liverpool and Manchester United, they’ve already started to look to the summer as much as this weekend. United want a striker, Liverpool need much more, and may spend much more.
That is because of a huge change in fortunes within the Premier League’s greatest rivalry. While United have started to drastically outperform Liverpool on the pitch, the Anfield club have again recorded a higher revenue off it.
The two are of course far more interconnected than these sparse facts indicate, and the same can be said of two great clubs who will always operate in tandem – even if it’s a historical quirk that they have never been at peaks at the same time. In the last two months alone, it could have been a landmark moment for the English game were its two biggest clubs to be sold at the same time.
As it is, one has again influenced the other.
Why the power in Premier League’s greatest rivalry is set to shift
Liverpool and Manchester United have famously never peaked at the same time and amid huge issues at both clubs off the pitch, their fortunes could be about to come full circle
Liverpool vs Man Utd team changes
Jurgen Klopp makes three changes to the Liverpool team that defeated Wolves during the week. Andy Robertson returns to the back line with Jordan Henderson replacing Stefan Bajcetic in midfield. Cody Gakpo starts alongside Mo Salah and Darwin Nunez up top.
Erik ten Hag makes a bunch of changes to the Man Utd team that defeated West Ham in the FA Cup last time out. He reverts back to his strongest XI which sees Raphael Varane, Luke Shaw and Casemiro all return to the starting line-up.
Liverpool vs Man Utd line-ups
Liverpool XI: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson, Elliott, Fabinho, Henderson, Salah, Gakpo, Nunez
Man Utd XI: De Gea, Dalot, Varane, Martinez, Shaw, Casemiro, Fred, Antony, Fernandes, Rashford, Weghorst
Jurgen Klopp and Erik ten Hag ask fans to ‘keep the passion and lose the poison’ over tragedy chants
Jurgen Klopp and Erik ten Hag have joined forces to call on Liverpool and Manchester United fans to stop “tragedy chanting” and offensive songs about the Munich, Heysel and Hillsborough disasters.
United have condemned their supporters for singing about Hillsborough, after 97 Liverpool fans lost their lives in and following the 1989 FA Cup semi-final, while United have faced taunts about the 1958 plane crash in Munich, where eight players were among the 23 people who died.
Managers Klopp and Ten Hag have called on both fanbases to create a special atmosphere when their clubs meet at Anfield on Sunday and said it is unacceptable to sing about the tragedies.
Klopp and Ten Hag reach out to fans over chants about tragedies
Recent fixtures between the teams have again seen a number of fans taunting with sickening chants regarding Heysel, Munich or Hillsborough
Ten Hag expecting hostile atmosphere
Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag says he is looking forward to this trip to Anfield despite expectations that his team will be met by a ‘hostile atmosphere’ from the Liverpool supporters.
He said: “Very excited. I am really looking forward [to it], and we know we can expect a strong opposition, hostile ambience and we are really looking forward to performing there. “Mentality is one of the decisive factors on Sunday. We know we have to play our best to get the right result there.”
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments