Champions Liverpool failed to regain the leadership of the Premier League top spot after holding a goalless draw with Manchester United, who remained the leader with 37 points.
The Reds are third with 34 points, behind Leicester City 2nd with 35 points and Man Utd 1st with 37 points.
Liverpool came close to open the scoring after only 16 minutes, after a brilliant ball by Shaqiri found Mane in behind. Sadio rolled the ball to Firmino but his left-footed effort went wide.
Salah was so close to break the silence in the 62nd minute, when Firmino passed the ball to Salah but Mo's effort from close-range was deflected behind for a corner.
The Reds' keeper came into action through a great save from Alisson to deny Fernandes. In a quick reply from Liverpool, de Gea made a brilliant save when Thiago walked away from Fred and smacked a rising drive from distance that is pushed away dramatically by the flying de Gea.
Alisso showed up once again with a great save as he denied Pogba's shot from a very close range.
Confirmed line-ups:
Liverpool XI: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Henderson, Fabinho, Robertson; Thiago, Wijnaldum; Shaqiri, Firmino, Mane; Salah.
Man United XI: De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Shaw; Fred, McTominay; Rashford, Fernandes, Pogba; Martial.
The Liver is here:
The players gather round the centre circle for a minute’s applause in memory of Gerry Marsden. He is also on the cover of the match programme.
https://twitter.com/LFC/status/1350845527643086849
3 min The first good move from Liverpool. Shaqiri and Wijnaldum combine to find the overlapping Robertson, who mishits a cross into the side netting.
6 min And now the first promising move from United. Martial plays a one-two with Shaw and slides a pass down the inside-left channel to release Rashford. His cross is kicked away at the near post.
10 min Fernandes’s through pass towards Rashford is intercepted well by Henderson on the edge of the area.
12 min Thiago walks majestically away from Fred, not once but twice, only to overhit a simple pass to Alexander-Arnold. He is a glorious footballer, and has looked a class apart in the early minutes.
13 min United haven’t had much of the ball so far - 29 per cent - though they will be happy that Liverpool haven’t threatened to overwhelm them as they did in the first 15 minutes of this fixture last season.
14 min Firmino’s long-range shot is blocked by Maguire. The ball spins across the area to Robertson,l who slices a half-volley over the bar. The move started with a fine pass from Thiago to Firmino; as Gary Neville says on Sky, at the moment he’s running the game.
17 min Shaqiri slides a brilliant pass into the area for Mane. He is covered by Wan-Bissaka so turns away from goal and finds Firmino on the edge of the box. He slices well wide with his left foot. That was a poor effort, not least because Robertson was in acres of space to his left.
18 min Fred breaks down the left and curls a dangerous pass around the Liverpool defence towards Rashford at the far post. Robertson does very well to hold Rashford off and draw a foul.
28 min Statwatch: Liverpool have had 73 per cent possession and eight shots to United’s none. But neither side has had a shot on target yet.
29 min Wijnaldum fouls Pogba 40 yards from goal on the right. Fernandes’s free-kick finds Shaw round the back on the left, and his cross takes a couple of ricochets before being cleared.
35 min Rashford breaks dangerously into the area, and there’s a bit of excitement before the flag eventually goes up. Rashford was offside in the first phase.
39 min Pogba spins a lovely long pass towards Rashford, who is just beaten to the ball on the edge of the area by Alisson. Rashford was then flagged offside, though replays showed it was very close.
42 min Thiago’s pass is intercepted by Fred and United break. Pogba moves past the halfway line before being sandwiched by Henderson and Thiago. No yellow card, probably because Paul Tierney didn’t know who brought Pogba down first.
45 min One minute of added time.
2nd Half Begins
50 min Martial’s cross on the turn is intercepted well at the near post by Henderson. Liverpool break and Mane’s improvised header almost puts Salah through on goal. Mane is starting to look lively.
53 min: Excellent block from Fabinho! Wan-Bissaka sprays a crossfield pass to Martial on the edge of the area. He slides it down the side to Fernandes, whose first-time shot on the turn is superbly blocked by the sliding Fabinho.
72 min Salah’s snapshot from 20 yards hits Shaw and deflects Firmino. He can’t control it and it runs through to de Gea.
75 min: Big save from Alisson! That was the best move of the match. Maguire played a fine pass through to Rashford, who waited on the edge of the area and then played in the overlapping Shaw. He cut the ball back carefully towards Fernandes, who opened his body to steer a low shot towards goal. Alisson reacted smartly to kick it away with his left foot.
76 min: Liverpool substitution Curtis Jones replaces Xherdan Shaqiri, who played well on his return to the side.
78 min: Good save from de Gea! Thiago walks away from Fred, not for the first time today, and smacks a rising drive from distance that is pushed away dramatically by the flying de Gea. Replays show it was a comfortable save, much closer to him than it first looked.
83 min: Big save from Alisson! Wan-Bissaka runs at Robertson and hits a deflected cross towards Pogba, who takes it in his stride and blasts it towards goal from eight yards. Alisson stands tall and wears it. On reflection it was a poor finish from Pogba, straight at Alisson, even if it was hit with thumping force.
85 min: Liverpool substitution Divock Origi replaces Firmino. He goes left, Mane up front.
87 min Mason Greenwood is about to come on for United, as is James Milner for Liverpool.
89 min: Liverpool substitution Gini Wijnaldum is replaced by James Milner.
90+2 min Alexander-Arnold’s corner is headed away by Pogba, who then tries to lead a break and is well tackled by Milner.
Follow the latest news on Google News
