The Merseysiders rounded out their tour of the United States with a resounding victory, leaving their big rivals with issues to solve
It was a rainy evening in Columbia, South Carolina as Liverpool made it three wins from three from their pre-season tour of the United States. Arne Slot's side defeated Manchester United 3-0,with goals from Fabio Carvalho, Curtis Jones and Kostas Tsimikas steering them to victory on what was a night to forget for Erik ten Hag.
Carvalho put Liverpool ahead just 10 minutes into the match, firing home a wicked effort to open the scoring. The Reds then doubled their lead before the half-time break, as Jones found the net via a sensational Mohamed Salah assist.
Come the second half, the Reds found a third, as full-back Kostas Tsimikas tapped in at the back post, much to Slot's delight.
Things only got worse for United and Ten Hag as young defender Will Fish became the latest member of the Red Devils' squad to suffer an injury ahead of the new campaign. Fish collided with Liverpool's Harvey Blair and came off the worst of the two, leading to the the 21-year-old being stretchered off the pitch as a result.
GOAL breaks down the winners & losers from Williams Brice Stadium…
WINNER: Mohammed Salah
What a sensational performance this was from Salah. The Egypt international absolutely carved up the United defence all evening long and was brilliant at connecting play in the final third.
He notched a brilliant assist for Liverpool's second goal, finding Jones in a tight space who fired home neatly. If this is a sign of things to come as the Premier League season creeps up on us, fans could be in for a treat, as Salah looks ready to make his mark up on the upcoming campaign.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesLOSER: Jadon Sancho
Jadon Sancho was rolled out as a centre-forward in place of the injured Rasmus Hojlund, but the reintegrated attacker struggled in the role. One might question why Marcus Rashford was not employed as United's striker, but this may have been Ten Hag testing Sancho, even though it did not work.
By the half-time whistle, Sancho had had just two touches in the opposition box, with young Toby Collyer and Rashford struggling to give him any service from the left-hand side of the pitch.
It's tough to blame Sancho for being played out of position, but he was handed an opportunity by the Red Devils boss. Unfortunately for him, he didn't hand Ten Hag any return for his faith.
Getty ImagesWINNER: Arne Slot
What a pre-season this has been for Slot so far. Saturday marked his third-straight victory ahead of the upcoming campaign, and second against a top-six contender. First, his Liverpool side bested Arsenal 2-1, and followed it up with the victory over United here.
That he has been able to get these kinds of free-flowing performances out of his team so quickly is testament to the ex-Feyenoord boss' methods, especially given how tied to Jurgen Klopp's ways of working the squad will have been when he arrived.
The Reds have not made any new signings, so it's not like Slot has brought in his own players to try take the lead in implementing his style, while the likes of Alisson Becker, Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Andrew Robertson, Alexis Mac Allister, Cody Gakpo, Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz are still to step into this team and improve it even further. The signs are good at Anfield right now.
Getty ImagesLOSER: Andre Onana
Andre Onana is a funny goalkeeper. He can come up with some world-class saves at times, but then in moments, produces blunders that are genuinely mind-boggling.
Liverpool's third goal on Saturday, scored by Tsimikas, was spilled by the Cameroon international, as he laid the ball on a platter for the Greek full-back to tap home when he really should have pushed it away from danger.
Ten Hag has plenty of issues to deal with right now, but there's no doubt that his goalkeeper has been a weak link so far this pre-season.
