Manchester United vs. Liverpool result: Marcus Rashford kickstarts Erik ten Hag era against listless Reds

Abraham Smith

Manchester United marked the belated launch of a new era under Erik Ten Hag as they deservedly beat rivals Liverpool 2-1 at Old Trafford.

Having lost to Brighton & Hove Albion and Brentford in their opening two games of the new campaign, the Red Devils looked transformed as they outfought and out-thought their arch-rivals to earn their first win under the Dutchman.

Liverpool had ran out 5-0 victors at this stadium en route to falling agonisingly short of a quadruple trophy success last season, but they were well short of those standards in losing out this time around.

Goals in either half from Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford gave the revitalised hosts an advantage that they refused to surrender even after Mohamed Salah’s late header set up a potentially grandstand finish.

And that has left Jurgen Klopp searching for answers to a poor start that has seen his side return two draws and a defeat.

Ten Hag’s tough love pays off

Ten Hag’s decision to force his players to take part in a running session the day after their defeat to Brentford was questioned in some quarters.

But the Dutchman’s hardline approach appeared to pay off on Monday evening as his side outfought opponents who are renowned for their hard-working approach under Jurgen Klopp.

By fulltime against Liverpool at Old Trafford, United had run 18.3km more than they had across the 90 minutes in west London.

And that had played no small part in them forcing a team packed with quality into constant mistakes — a key facet of the victory.

Liverpool midfield question persists

If there is one area of the pitch Liverpool fans would most like to see reinforced before the end of the transfer window, it is undoubtedly midfield. The argument for bringing in a fresh face in the centre of the park in the next few days was only strengthened by events at Old Trafford.

Admittedly, youngster Harvey Elliott performed well, but he was a rare bright spot in an engine room that largely failed to get to grips with United’s aggression.

Both James Milner and Jordan Henderson were slow to the challenge and sloppy in possession in a way that will have supporters praying it is not too long until Thiago Alcantara returns.

Even then, you still sense that the Reds could do with something new in the middle.

Reds take on ‘crisis club’ baton

United’s dreadful start under Ten Hag had somewhat served to take the attention away from the fact that Liverpool had failed to hit the heights of recent seasons in their first two games.

But make no mistake, a return of two points from a possible nine and the comprehensive nature of their defeat to United means the Reds will face serious scrutiny in the days ahead.

The standards of recent title races suggest that a five-point gap to Manchester City will be difficult to make up, no matter how early in the campaign that has come about.

Klopp must quickly find a solution to his team’s ailing form and under the sort of pressure that is reserved only for the biggest of clubs.

The Sporting News provided live updates and commentary from the match.

Manchester United vs. Liverpool live score

  1H 2H Final
Manchester United 1 1 2
Liverpool 0 1 1

Goals: 

MUN: Sancho (16th min)

MUN: Rashford (53rd min)

LIV: Salah (81st min)

MORE: Premier League top goal scorers 2022-2023: Updated golden boot rankings

Manchester United vs. Liverpool live updates, highlights from Old Trafford

FULLTIME: All over at Old Trafford and United have their first win under Erik Ten Hag – and it has come against their arch-rivals in convincing fashion.

That could be the result that kickstarts a new era for the Red Devils but, as for Liverpool, they look a shadow of the team that went so close to the quadruple last season.

90th min: Five minutes to be added on as Martial skips in behind but can’t beat the onrushing Alisson.

88th min: Raphael Varane hitting the deck with cramp as Liverpool push for an equaliser. These United players have worked their socks off this evening. 

81st min: GOAL! Pinball in the United box as De Gea saves a Carvalho shot and Salah is there to follow up and head the ball into the ground and in.

Game on?

Watch Mohamed Salah pull a goal back for Liverpool (UK):

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67th min: Fabinho heads a corner goalward but De Gea gets down well to collect it.

59th min: That’s the end of the evening for Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson, who is replaced by Fabinho.

53rd min: GOAL! Manchester United double their lead! Liverpool lose the ball in midfield and Rashford is on his bike straight away to latch onto a pass in behind. Alisson is out to make himself big, but the Mancunian striker makes no mistake with a cool finish into the bottom corner.

Watch Marcus Rashford’s goal (UK):

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46th min: Bruno Fernandes gets the game back under way for the hosts. 

HALFTIME: A change for the hosts at the break, with Anthony Martial taking the place of Anthony Elanga. 

HALFTIME: United were criticised for their workrate last time out at Brentford, and the stats seemed to show they have significantly improved things in that regard during the week.

HALFTIME: Manchester United leading by a single goal at the break and they fully deserve their lead. They hosts have pressed Liverpool out of the game so far and shown real discipline when they’ve needed to defend in numbers in deep areas.

Jurgen Klopp has it all to do at the break and not much of a bench to do it with, while Erik Ten Hag will no doubt be asking for more of the same.

41st min: So close to an equaliser!

Milner heads a corner goalward and Fernandes’ attempted clearance has own goal but written all over it, but Martinez is on the line next to him and, though he doesn’t know much about it, prevents it going in.

37th min: Liverpool enjoying plenty of possession now but United are dligent in their defensive work and closing all the spaces. Where was this team against Brentford?

29th min: Jadon Sancho looked happy with that one.

25th min: What a save! Eriksen arrows an inch-perfect free-kick toward the far top corner but Alisson is there with a fine fingertip stop. 

21st min: That’s the seventh straight league game in which Liverpool have gone 1-0 down. Not a good habit to have.

16th min: GOAL! Manchester United lead and it’s Jadon Sancho who gets it. It’s a really slick exchange around the Liverpool box that leads to Sancho picking it up in the box and he shows brilliant composure to sit Alisson and Milner down simultaneously before passing the ball home.

That’s no more than Manchester United deserve.

Watch Jadon Sancho’s opening goal (UK):

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10th min: McTominay slips Fernandes in behind and the midfielder does brilliantly to beat Gomez to the ball to set up Elanga for one-on-one. The youngster looks to have done everything right in opening his body for curling, inside-of-the-foot finish but it comes agonisingly back off the post.

That’s a huge let-off for Liverpool.

7th min: Liverpool lose it in a deep position and Alexander-Arnold fouls Rashford in attempting to get back in. It’s in a dangerous position at the edge of the box but Eriksen’s attempt is into the wall and the ball floats over the bar.

KICKOFF: Harvey Elliott gets the game under way.

5mins to kickoff: Both sets of players emerge to a thunderous reception at Old Trafford.

10mins to kickoff: Liverpool supporters loudly singing pro-Glazer family chants in the away end as we close in on kickoff. 

25mins to kickoff: Erik Ten Hag has been discussing his selection decisions with Sky Sports.

On leaving Cristiano Ronaldo out, he said: “We know Liverpool are a really good team and you need to press them. You have to do that out of a block and need energy, that is why we went with Rashford, Sancho, Elanga.”

40mins to kickoff: Liverpool sources have told The Sporting News that Naby Keita is absent through injury tonight but it is certainly interesting to see the Guinean miss out amid question marks over his future at Anfield. Could we see movement on that front over the next couple of weeks?

1 hour to kickoff: A few surprises in the Liverpool team, too, with Fabinho on the bench and no Naby Keita in the squad.

1 hour to kickoff: Some big, big calls from Erik Ten Hag: No Cristiano Ronaldo or Harry Maguire in the starting XI tonight.

1 hour 15mins to kickoff: A new face at Old Trafford tonight, though he won’t be able to play.

1 hour 30mins to kickoff: Only West Ham are keeping Manchester United off the bottom of the Premier League as we close in on kickoff here and how desperately they could do with a win tonight to get things going under Erik Ten Hag.

The same, of course, also goes for the visitors Liverpool, who it is difficult to see challenging for the title this season should they fail to win any of their first three fixtures.

1 hour 45mins to kickoff: It’s not only the action on the pitch that is likely to grab the headlines tonight, with a planned protest from United supporters against the club’s owners, the Glazer family, also providing a backdrop to the game. The demonstration is set to begin at 7pm but huge groups of fans are already congregating at the planned meeting spot.

2 hours to kickoff: Hello and welcome to today’s clash between Manchester United and Liverpool. There are always fireworks when these two old rivals meet but, with both having failed to get a win on board so far this season, an opportunity to land an even more painful blow than usual awaits.

Manchester United v Liverpool predicted lineups

Manchester United will hope that Anthony Martial and Victor Lindelof can return after missing recent games through injury.

Ten Hag has few other fitness concerns, though he will surely swap in Raphael Varane for Lisandro Martinez at the back after making that change at half-time of last week’s defeat to Brentford.

Manchester United predicted starting XI (4-2-3-1): De Gea (GK) — Dalot, Varane, Maguire, Shaw — Fred, Eriksen — Sancho, Fernandes, Rashford — Ronaldo

As for Liverpool, they are likely to welcome Roberto Firmino back from injury to take the place of the suspended Darwin Nunez, while Joe Gomez should be fit to start in place of Nat Phillips.

However, an already lengthy injury list now features Joel Matip alongside the likes of Thiago Alcantara, Diogo Jota and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, none of whom will be available to feature.

Liverpool predicted starting XI (4-3-3): Alisson (GK) — Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson — Elliott, Fabinho, Henderson — Salah, Firmino, Diaz

MORE: Liverpool Premier League fixtures: Full schedule, dates, times, predictions for the 2022/23 EPL season

When is Manchester United vs. Liverpool on?

Manchester United play host to Liverpool at Old Trafford in Manchester, UK. It kicks off at 8 p.m. BST on Monday, August 22.

  UK USA Canada Australia
Date Monday, August 22 Monday, August 22 Monday, August 22 Tuesday, August 23
Time 20:00 BST 15:00 ET 15:00 ET 05:00 AET

How to watch Manchester United vs. Liverpool

  UK USA Canada Australia
TV channel Sky Sports Main Event,
Sky Sports Premier League,
Sky Ultra HD

Telemundo

 — —
Streaming Sky Go / Now TV

fuboTV, Peacock

 fuboTV Optus Sport

UK: The match will be carried by Sky Sports TV and streaming platforms.

USA: The Matchweek 3 contest from Old Trafford will be televised on Telemundo (in Spanish), and that channel is streamed on fuboTV. The match will be streamed in English on NBC platform Peacock.

Canada: Every Premier League game streams live and on demand exclusively via fuboTV.

Australia: Fans in Australia can stream all Premier League matches live and on demand on Optus Sport. 

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