Manchester United Make Progress Despite Disappointment at Anfield

20/01/21 3055

Manchester United came away from Anfield on the weekend with a point thanks to a 0-0 draw. On the face of it, a draw away from home against the defending Premier League champions is a good result.

Defensively, Manchester United continue their recent improvement with the likes of Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw putting in a tremendous performance.

If you go back to Manchester United’s visit to Anfield in the Premier League last season, which is now almost a year ago, a 2-0 defeat saw them 30 points adrift of the team who would go on to win the title.

The Red Devils were so far behind Liverpool on that day, and throughout the whole season, it seemed unimaginable they would return to Anfield this season, not only above Liverpool but top of the table.

There were additional factors to consider in the match against Liverpool this season, including the fact there was no crowd inside the stadium. Liverpool also had injury problems in defence with Virgil van Dijk, Joel Matip, and Joe Gomez unavailable.

However, Liverpool is a team who always defend from the front and they did so again in the game on the weekend, applying the pressure on Manchester United by pressing them inside their own half.

Let us not forget that with a complete defensive line-up, Liverpool conceded 7 goals at Aston Villa this season, so having the first choice defence has not always been a key to success.

Manchester United defended well throughout the game and although Liverpool managed to work the ball into some decent positions, they did not create what would be considered a great goal scoring opportunity.

Manchester United on the other hand, had two glorious chances to win the match in the second half. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer knew that if his team could defend properly, they had the players to create chances to win the game.

Unfortunately for the visitors, they could not convert the chances with Bruno Fernandes forcing a good save from Alisson and Paul Pogba firing straight at the goalkeeper when blasting the ball towards goal from close range.

Therefore, Manchester United came away from the game slightly disappointed to have only taken a point. However, the result means Manchester United are unbeaten in their past 16 away matches in the Premier League and must now be considered serious contenders for the title this season.

If they go to Fulham this week and beat them, the draw at Anfield will look a good result, so there is a great deal riding on that fixture now.

Nonetheless, there is no doubt Manchester United have made a great deal of progress in the Premier League since this time last year. They were nowhere near the title chase last January but fast forward to this January and they are top of the pile.