Liverpool picked up a morale-boosting 4-2 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford earlier tonight.
The Reds were in desperate need of the three points in order to keep their Champions League qualification hopes alive, and Jurgen Klopp can be proud of the performance of his players.
Bruno Fernandes handed the home side a dream start on the 10th minute, but Liverpool got back into the game through first-half goals from Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino.
The Brazilian striker doubled his tally with an early goal in the second half, but Marcus Rashford’s 68th-minute goal gave United the chance to come back into the game and salvage a point.
However, Liverpool’s top scorer Mohamed Salah wrapped up the scoring on the 90th minute to secure all three points for the visitors.
Here at Anytime Football, we look at the five major talking points from tonight’s game.
Trent Alexander-Arnold deserves to go to the European Championships
The Liverpool right-back was arguably the best player on the pitch tonight.
Not only did he help out his teammates defensively, but he also managed to create several chances for the visitors.
There have been doubts about whether Gareth Southgate would call up the Liverpool player for the Euros this summer but tonight’s performance shows that he is England’s best right-back, and leaving him out would be a massive mistake.
Dean Henderson is not ready to become the club’s number one goalkeeper
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be disappointed with the goalkeeping performance from Dean Henderson tonight.
The England goalkeeper was given the nod ahead of David de Gea, but he failed to impress on the night.
His mistake allowed Liverpool an early goal in the second half. Furthermore, the youngster was unable to organize his defence due to the lack of communication as well.
The Sadio Mane incident
The Senegalese winger was dropped for this game, favouring Diogo Jota, who put on an impressive performance for Liverpool at Old Trafford.
However, Klopp decided to bring on Mane for the final 20 minutes, and the winger was frustrated with the manager’s decision to leave him out of the starting lineup from the onset.
The two were involved in an altercation after the game where the Liverpool player ignored Jurgen Klopp’s attempt to shake hands with him.
Mane has been a world-class player for Liverpool, and, understandably, a player of his calibre wants to play regularly. Still, he has not been at his best this season, and the selection of Jota ahead of him was justified.
Top four race back on
The top four race is well and truly back on, and Liverpool have a great chance of qualifying for Champions League football now.
The Reds have 60 points from 35 matches, and the likes of Leicester City and Chelsea have played one extra game.
With the likes of Chelsea and Leicester facing each other in the coming days, it will be interesting to see whether Liverpool can capitalize on their favourable run of fixtures and sneak into the top four.
The importance of Harry Maguire
The Manchester United defender was out injured tonight, and the Red Devils struggled in his absence.
The home defence was all over the place, and the likes of Salah, Firmino and Jota had a comfortable outing.
Apart from his defensive qualities, Manchester United missed the leadership and communication of Harry Maguire. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be desperate to have his best centre halfback in time for the Europa League final.
