Liverpool vs Man United is arguably the biggest fixture in English football. The two are the most successful teams in the country and the quest to be the undisputed best is never-ending. For the first two decades of the Premier League, Liverpool failed to add to their record tally of 18 First Division titles. During that time, Sir Alex Ferguson’s Man United set out on a mission to “knock the Reds off their perch”, racking up 13 Premier League titles to succeed in that mission.
Also in the Fergie era, the Red Devils built an impressive head-to-head record against their fierce rivals. But in the past decade or so since, there has been a power shift. Gone are the days when a Man United side chasing a title would be favourites against Liverpool. In fact, it is the complete opposite now. Jurgen Klopp’s army are hell-bent on landing the Premier League title and were overwhelming favourites against United yesterday.
Should they usurp Man City to the title, they’ll go level on 20 titles with Man United. And what’s to stop them from leapfrogging United next season? Seeing Liverpool land a 20th Premier League will surely hurt anyone associated with Man United, but their immediate concern should be how easily their defense was reduced to shambles by Liverpool in the two games.
It’s one thing losing to your biggest rivals, it’s another thing being comprehensively outclassed by them. Over the two games, United have lost by an aggregate score of 9-0. If you only count Mo Salah’s goals, it’d still be 5-0. That is simply inexplicable and unimaginable. It was never this one-sided in this storied rivalry. Not even the best of Fergie’s Man United sides have ever torn Liverpool to shreds in this manner.