Liverpool’s record-breaking win over Manchester United has unsurprisingly left contrasting emotions on each side.
The Reds claimed an incredible 7-0 victory over their bitter rivals at Anfield in the Premier League on Sunday. It was a victory that moved Jurgen Klopp’s side up to fifth place in the table and three points behind fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur with a game in hand.
Darwin Nunez, Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah each scored two goals in the historic triumph with Roberto Firmino also on the scoresheet. It was Liverpool’s biggest win over United in their history.
Little wonder, then, Ian Doyle was generous in his Reds player ratings for the ECHO, with two men getting the perfect 10. But it was a different story for the United players.
The Express, Manchester Evening News (MEN) and Goal did not shy away from their criticism of the Reds Devils. In fact, the MEN handed out scores of 1 to every United player, as well as to manager Erik ten Hag.
For Lisandro Martinez, the MEN wrote: “Reasonably solid in the first half but easily deceived by Mohamed Salah for the contest-killing third goal.” While for Raphael Varane, the verdict read: “Inexplicably allowed Gakpo to come inside and have a free shot to start the goal glut. His worst performance of the season.”
Their verdict for Casemiro read: “Uncharacteristically careless with the ball and this proved to be a game too far for one of United’s players of the season. Liverpool overwhelmed him.” While, for Bruno Fernandes, the MEN wrote: “Started the game playing out of position and on this occasion he could not affect the play whatsoever. Became more truculent as the score line got worse.”
The Express were almost as harsh with their gradings of the Red Devils players. Their ratings included marks of two for Scott McTominay and three for the likes of Fernandes, Luke Shaw, Diogo Dalot and Wout Weghorst.
While in Goal, their ratings included some slightly more generous marks. Weghorst was the only player to get a score of three, while the rest either received a mark of four or five.
Jude Bellingham ‘likes’ Trent Alexander-Arnold’s post mocking Manchester United after Liverpool win
Liverpool fans could be forgiven for thinking it couldn’t get any better than beating rivals Manchester United 7-0 at Anfield but Jude Bellingham’s just tested the limits of that.
The Reds got their top four hopes back on track with a sensational win against their biggest rivals on Sunday afternoon.
The defeat was United’s biggest in Premier League history and while that in itself brings joy for Liverpool fans, the nature of the display will be even more pleasing as Jurgen Klopp’s men looked like the team of years gone by.
Performances like that have been lacking this season, in which Klopp and his players have all admitted they’ve fallen below the standards set in recent years.
But a result like that is one worth celebrating, no matter how the current campaign is playing out.
One man that did exactly that was Trent Alexander-Arnold, who posted a selfie of himself with the ‘This is Anfield’ sign and a follow-up picture of the scoreboard from the 90th minute that depicted the 7-0 scoreline.
The post, as you may expect, brought in nearly 700,000 ‘likes’ within the first hour from giddy supporters.
But it was a ‘like’ from Dortmund superstar Bellingham that really caught the eye.
The England midfielder is a priority target for Liverpool and part of the reason that the Reds are so desperate to finish in the top four is that a failure to do so could see them miss out on Bellingham.
But the Englishman was clearly happy with what he saw at Anfield on Sunday, as he took to Instagram to endorse Alexander-Arnold’s post.
The midfielder is expected to leave Dortmund this summer, with Manchester City and Real Madrid the main competitors for Bellingham’s signature.
But with his recent activity it would look like the Reds are in the lead.