Due to their inability to overcome their long-standing opponents, Jurgen Klopp’s team drops out of the first spot in the Premier League standings.

Liverpool was frustrated by Manchester United at Anfield, missing the opportunity to secure their position atop the Premier League standings. As a result, the Reds played out a dull 0-0 stalemate that puts them one point behind leaders Arsenal.

Despite having 15 efforts on target, Jurgen Klopp’s team was unable to muster much in the first half. Virgil van Dijk came the closest, but Andre Onana turned over his header from a corner. Instead, a number of promising attacks in front of the Kop fizzled out, leaving the home supporters dissatisfied.

After the interval, Liverpool did try harder, but they were still unable to truly test Onana in the United goal. Trent Alexander-Arnold missed a few opportunities while Mohamed Salah and Ibrahima Konate forced him into straightforward saves, but the Merseysiders were unable to find a way past their long-standing rivals before Diogo Dalot was sent off in stoppage time.

GOAL rates Liverpool’s players from Anfield…

Goalkeeper & Defence

Alisson Becker (6/10):

A spectator for much of the afternoon, but spread himself well to deny Hojlund midway through the second half.

Trent Alexander-Arnold (7/10):

Did his best to drive Liverpool forward, both from the right-hand side and when he came inside into midfield. Fired narrowly wide on a couple of occasions.

Ibrahima Konate (5/10):

Solid enough defensively but often slowed the game down when he was in possession. Took too many touches and his passes lacked pace. Wasted a couple of chances at the other end, too.

Virgil van Dijk (6/10):

Barely gave United’s forwards a sniff and made a couple of key challenges. Denied by Onana with a header in the first half.

Kostas Tsimikas (7/10):

Did a lot of good defensive work up against Antony and put in a couple of fine crosses that weren’t capitalised upon.

Midfield

Wataru Endo (4/10):

Combative at the heart of the Liverpool midfield, but doesn’t provide enough when he needs to advance the ball himself. A solid back-up for Mac Allister, but not a genuine replacement.

Dominik Szoboszlai (3/10):

Looks a shadow of the player who was superb in the opening weeks of the season. Misplaced a number of key passes, with many ending promising attacks, and was replaced on the hour-mark.

Ryan Gravenberch (6/10):

Worked hard, especially out of possession, and always looked to drag Liverpool forward when he got on the ball. Forced off with an apparent injury in the second half.

Attack

Mohamed Salah (4/10):

Struggled to combine effectively with Szoboszlai as he too misplaced passes or showed a heavy touch. Guilty of shooting from too far out as Liverpool got more and more desperate.

Darwin Nunez (3/10):

His goal drought goes on, and he showed few signs of ending it as he was locked down by Varane and Evans. Continues to stray offside too often, and really should have kept going when he opted against shooting and instead appealed for a penalty.

Luis Diaz (6/10):

Looked dangerous when he got the chance to dribble at Dalot, but those opportunities were too few from a Liverpool perspective.

Subs & Manager

Cody Gakpo (6/10):

Gave Liverpool a little more incisiveness in attack, but decision-making wasn’t always the best.

Joe Gomez (6/10):

Drove forward from right-back but fired wide when well-placed.

Harvey Elliott (5/10):

Energetic but couldn’t create anything of note.

Curtis Jones (5/10):

On late on.

Jurgen Klopp (5/10):

Surprisingly only made one change from the underwhelming display against Crystal Palace and his players struggled again. Substitutes couldn’t bail him out this time around.