The traditional derby did not offer any goals. Liverpool failed to move into first place after a draw with struggling United

17th the Premier League round ended on Sunday with a clash of traditional rivals. Northwest Derby did not know the winner this time, also because Manchester United defended zero against more than three dozen shots of the opponent. Thus, Erik ten Hag’s charges took a valuable point from Liverpool in a critical period.

The duel of the teams, which are plagued by a considerable number of injuries, started at Anfield Road with the home side being more active up front. After a quarter of an hour of play, they created a snarl in the opposition’s penalty area, to which goalkeeper André Onana contributed with a shaky save. However, the visitors managed to survive the situation without conceding a goal.

There were quite a few hard tackles, with Liverpool’s Darwin Núñez receiving a yellow card for one of his fouls in the 22nd minute. Manchester’s Kobbie Mainoo was punished in the same manner by experienced referee Michael Oliver five minutes later.

In the 29th minute, Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk could have sent Liverpool into the lead, but his header was deflected under the crossbar after a corner kick by the goalkeeper. In the 35th minute, Núñez’s attack was stopped by Sofyan Amrabat and he also saw a yellow card. Ibrahima Konaté then headed over the bar.

Seven minutes later, Mohamed Salah fired from outside the penalty area, but Onana dealt with his not-so-subtle cross. Wataru Endo was not spared a yellow card in injury time. However, the Red Devils did not threaten Alisson from the offered standard situation.

Neither Liverpool nor Manchester scored in the second half

Two minutes after the break, Trent Alexander-Arnold broke through the Manchester United defence in the six-yard box and hit the side netting. The Reds continued to be the better team. At the other end, in the 55th minute, Alejandro Garnacho missed a rare breakaway by the visitors, which Alexander-Arnold managed to defend.

Before the hour was up, Jürgen Klopp’s side suffered an injury to Ryan Gravenberch. Dominik Szoboszlai left the field with him and was replaced by Cody Gakpo, Joe Gomez.

In the 64th minute, another shot was scored by Salah, who headed into Onan’s gloves from just outside the box. Alexander-Arnold’s shot flew just wide of the left post two minutes later. The 67th minute brought United’s biggest opportunity, with Alisson saving a close-range finish from Rasmus Højlund.

Not long after, Salah again failed to beat Onana and Scott McTominay shot inaccurately from a counter-attack. After a busy second half, a lacklustre Garnacho came off the bench in the 71st minute and was replaced by Marcus Rashford.

In the 77th minute, Liverpool’s pressure came again in the rival’s goalmouth, which Konaté finished unsuccessfully with a shot into the middle of the net after a corner. In the end, both coaches tried to influence the match with two more substitutions.

The home side called for a penalty in the 85th minute, but Shaw’s handball was ruled illegal by VAR. Soon after, Gomez almost made the difference when he split the net from a great opportunity.

In stoppage time, Gakpo’s header ended up over the crossbar. Then Diogo Dalot didn’t forgive himself for protesting the referee and his decision after one of the fights. So he received two yellow cards within moments. However, no goals were scored in the rest of the game, so the prestigious derby has a 0:0 scoreline.

As Liverpool did not take any of their 34 shots, they did not get ahead of Arsenal in the table. They are currently a point behind the leading team. Manchester United are seventh with 28 points.

Source: Premier League, Canal+ Sport