United Beyond Manchester

The summer was promising, but the performances have not been. Manchester United fell for the second time in three matches to start the new season.

Liverpool thought they had struck first within six minutes, but Mo Salah was deemed offside when he touched the ball before it fell to Trent Alexander-Arnold, who finished.

Liverpool did find the breakthrough in the 35th minute when a horrid pass from Casemiro gifted Liverpool a breakaway. The 5-on-3 break led to Luis Diaz and Dominik Szoboszlai being unmarked on the back post, with the former heading home for the away side.

Casemiro was at the forefront of Liverpool’s second when he was caught on the ball in the midfield. A quick pass out to Salah after the turnover gave the Egyptian an opportunity to play a cross to Luis Diaz, who finished for the second time.

After a dismal first half, Casemiro was replaced by Toby Collyer to start the second half.

Mistakes continued to haunt the Reds, and a Kobbie Mainoo giveaway turned into a Liverpool third as Mo Salah finished past a terribly positioned Andre Onana.

United created a few chances later on, but Zirkzee could not finish, and ultimately, the Reds were shut out at home. Despite a few solid individual performances, Manchester United were by far second-best in nearly every facet of the game.

After three games, Erik Ten Hag’s team is sitting on three points, less than this time last year. The goal difference is already well into the negatives, and only two goals have been scored.

Manchester United now heads into the international window, with a match against Southampton to follow. The team already needs a reset, and this break will hopefully allow the team to address some of the glaring issues from the first three matches.

The Reds face Southampton, Crystal Palace, and Spurs in the next three league matches.

A final note: Would the match have gone any differently had Manuel Ugarte been registered in time to play?