Manchester United were walking wounded during their Premier League encounter with Liverpool at Old Trafford as the injury-hit side managed to secure a goalless draw on Sunday.
Marcus Rashford was struggling early in proceedings after riding a challenge from Jordan Henderson but had to soldier on for the full 90 minutes as injuries to Ander Herrera, Juan Mata and substitute Jesse Lingard – all the first half – saw the hosts blow through their quota of changes.
Despite that, the home team held firm and had the better chances over the course of a disappointing contest.
Here’s how Ole Gunnar Solskjaer fared as he navigated a tricky encounter.
BASIC STATS
Tactical battled: Solskjaer v Klopp
30-SECOND REPORT
Solskjaer set his side up in a diamond 4-4-2 system and during a first half that was riddled with stoppages, due to injury, it held them in good stead. A narrow midfield helped congest the central areas and forced Liverpool wide from where they were unable to deliver quality crosses to hurt the Red Devils.
Meanwhile, United lost Herrera in the 21st minute with Lingard replacing Mata soon after, only to hobble off himself before half-time. Solskjaer was left with no substitutions to influence the second half and towards the closing stages the hosts were forced to retreat and defend deeper as they tired. However, they were never under any serious pressure.
TACTICAL TALKING POINT
Switch in shape
The flurry of injuries forced Solskjaer to rethink his 4-4-2 formation with a midfield diamond and he opted to switch to a more straightforward 4-3-3. A narrow midfield asked too much of a hobbling Rashford in a defensive capacity while also stretching Liverpool with runs in behind and out wide. Sanchez’s introduction meant he took up the left wing role with the England international through the middle.
That also seemed to open up another avenue to goal. Sanchez has looked a shadow of his former self at United but his crossing has been the one aspect of his game that’s still been menacing. With Lukaku moving to the right, the big Belgian was a target at the far post and the deep cross was always on. Unfortunately, Sanchez didn’t really capitalise on that mismatch between Lukaku and Andrew Robertson. Instead, it was the burly striker who delivered the more threatening crosses.
VERDICT
Solskjaer’s management of the players’ fitness levels must be questioned. Three muscle injuries inside 45 minutes does not bode well while Nemanja Matic was ruled out from the start. Bringing on Lingard was also a poor move. That said, he did well to tweak his system as per the circumstances and managed to get a solid performance out of a seriously depleted side in the second half.
Rating 6/10