Manchester United v Liverpool

With memories of that night in March fresh in the heads of the United players, they managed to reverse the scoreline and win 3-0 through goals from Wayne Rooney, Juan Mata and Robin Van Persie.

Pre-match, both clubs knew that this was a must win, for both confidence and the bragging rights. In terms of selection, it was surprising to see Brendan Rodgers drop Simon Mignolet in favour of Brad Jones even though he was in a bad rut of form. It was a bold decision, but in the end, I don't see it as a contributing factor to the final result. For the home side, Louis van Gaal favoured the youngster, James Wilson over the injury prone Radamel Falcao. This was nice to see, as a local lad, he would have grown up in the thick of the rivalry so the victory would have meant a bit more to him than a signing who joined in the summer. 

If we look at the game, Liverpool dominated the opening exchanges and Raheem Sterling had a perfect opening to give Liverpool the lead, but David de Gea remained on his feet to foil the attempt. No more than 25 seconds later, Antonio Valencia found himself one on one with Joe Allen, he pegged him before pulling the ball back to the edge of the area for captain Wayne Rooney to fire it past Jones in nets. This goal could have been prvented if a holding midfielder had tracked the run of Wayne Rooney, marking him outside the box and making it a lot more difficult to get the shot off.

The second goal was dubious to say the least. A cross on the left from Ashley Young met the head of Van Persie who flicked it too Juan Mata who nodded it into the back of the net. Juan Mata was at least a yard offside when Van Persie flicked the ball on, so I'm assuming that Mike Mallarky did not believe it touched the Dutchman. I firmly believe that if Martin Skrtel had got closer to Van Persie, then he could have headed the ball to safety.

Liverpool could have easily had at least 3 goals but for the efforts of man of the match David de Gea, Mario Balotelli could have had a hat trick when he came on at half time for Adam Lallana and Sterling squandered a glorious one on one opportunity against the United keeper. The score line was complete when a swift counter attack from United resulted in Rooney drilling a low cross into the box before a poor clearance from Dejan Lovren allowed Juan Mata to free Van Persie who applied the finish. While the move should never have materialised, if Lovren had cleared properly, a tracking holding midfielder may have halted it and sweeped up the poor clearance. 

As for individual performances, Sterling was getting into positions but couldn't handle the finish. He created more chances than anyone else and did cause problems for a uninspiring defence but was unable to beat De Gea who was in fine form. On another day, Sterling could have had a hat trick. With goals being a worry for Liverpool of late, Brendan is encouraged that Sterling is getting into scoring positions. He just needs to be composed, then the goals will eventually come. 

As for half time substitute, Mario Balotelli, he is in a similar pickle. I felt he didn't contribute as much as he could have in open play, but, like Sterling, was getting in goal scoring opportunities but was not able to beat inform de Gea. We saw a few bits of frustration from the Italian, and I get the sense that the fans are running out of patience with him. Philipe Coutinho tried to get the odd moves initiated but like most of the Liverpool midfield, he was restricted and well marshalled by Marouane Fellaini.

The midfield for Liverpool had plenty of the ball, but they were unable to beat Marouane Fellaini, who had a very good performance. He stifled they play and was used as a defensive ball winning midfielder, a role which he performed with aplomb. It was up in the air as to whether he was going to remain a United player in the summer as nobody saw where he fitted into LVG's technical strategy, but if his performances become more consistent then nobody will have any qualms about him remaining.

I thought that the wing-backs for United, particularly Valencia, operated and got joy down the flanks as so amply demonstrated in the build up to the first goal. Valencia got the better of his man on countless occasions and this possibly could have warranted more goals for his side. In defence, I also thought Michael Carrick was a standout performer. Playing out of position, he did have hairy situations, but with 94% passing, his distribution from the back was textbook. If United's injury tally remains at a critical level, then this positional change for Carrick may be employed more regularly. 

As Gary Neville pointed out in commentary, it's a rarity that a keeper gets the man of the match award when his team wins 3-0, but that's David de Gea for you. He pulled off several truly magnificent saves to keep Liverpool at bay. I was particularly impressed with his one on one save against Sterling when the Liverpool tried to take it around him. Plenty of keepers would have rushed out and gone to ground leaving an easy goal for the attacker. Without him today, United could have conceded at least 3 goals leaving a completely different outcome on the game. I am really not surprised that Real Madrid are in the market for him, as he would be the perfect heir to the Casillas throne.

Manchester United increase their winning run to 6 games while Liverpool aim to start a run having gone out of the Champions League midweek. Pressure must be building on Rodgers while Van Gaal must be quietly confident about a successful season.