Liverpool came from two goals down against Manchester United with Dominik Szoboszlai and Cody Gakpo canceling out Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko strikes. This is what we spotted.
17:26, 03 May 2026Updated 17:36, 03 May 2026
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot.(Image: Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)
OLD TRAFFORD, MANCHESTER // Liverpool fought back from two goals down against Manchester United, only to lose to a Kobbie Mainoo strike after a game of two halves.
Within 15 minutes, Manchester United had sailed into a two-goal lead thanks to goals from Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko, the latter potentially controversial thanks to a possible handball offense. In reality, though, Liverpool was very much second best.
Adam Diallo gifted the ball to Dominik Szoboszlai early in the second half and he cut the deficit to one before Senne Lammens helped with Cody Gakpo’s effort and the Reds’ second. Here are the five things Liverpool.com spotted as the game unfolded, with Mainoo finding a winner with a low strike.
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Michael Carrick vs Arne Slot
This game was more about Michael Carrick and Arne Slot than Manchester United vs Liverpool, Gary Neville said earlier this week. With both teams set to finish somewhere between third and fifth in the table, the argument for that is clear.
For Carrick, this looked set to be the kind of result that would land him the job on a permanent basis until the wobble in the middle. For Slot, more questions will be sent his way after a season that has been filled with disappointing performances.
Yes, Liverpool was injury-ravaged, but it should have been able to battle better than it did in the first half here. Tactically, Slot got it wrong. Then he fixed it. Then Mainoo scored anyway. Make of that what you will.
Manchester United head coach Michael Carrick(Image: Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images)
Liverpool attack blunted
Alexander Isak was missing due to a minor injury, while Hugo Ekitike has a much more severe one that will keep him out for months, and there was no last trip to Old Trafford for Mohamed Salah. That’s three huge attacking players that Slot was unable to call on.
Liverpool offered next to nothing in the final third for 45 minutes and was usually either too slow to get the ball into promising positions, or unable to get the accuracy right with its passing to bring in upfield.
Jeremie Frimpong really struggled down the right flank and while Cody Gakpo and Florian Wirtz had moments of quality, they were unable to sustain much. Dominik Szoboszlai, operating as a false nine, was ultimately neither a forward nor a midfielder.
That changed in the second half with the tactical tweak. It must also be noted, though, that it was in part down to Manchester United errors proving costly. Liverpool fought back, but only with some help.
Dominik Szoboszlai celebrates scoring for Liverpool against Man Utd.(Image: Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Freddie Woodman does well
Freddie Woodman played very well against Crystal Palace. He made some excellent saves and looked set to keep a clean sheet until Daniel Munoz clipped the ball over him while he was lying on the floor with an injury.
This, though, was a completely different test for the 29-year-old, who arrived from Preston North End last summer to play a back-up role. Within a quarter of the action, he had picked two goals out of his net, though he recovered from those setbacks very well.
Alisson Becker may well be back by the time the Reds take on Chelsea — there was a chance he could have been here — and if so, Woodman will have quite the trio of appearances, Everton, Anfield, and Old Trafford. In a way, this ended up being one to remember, though not for positive reasons from a Liverpool perspective.
Curtis Jones experiment
Curtis Jones has played right-back a few times of late, and Slot said on Friday that the Scouser is getting better game by game. Undoubtedly, that is true.
It is correct to such an extent that Jones might see a route to more regular game time in that role, should he be prepared to accept it. That might be his likeliest avenue to being in the team as often as he has been of late.
Here, he struggled to cope with Matheus Cunha to begin with — a possibility for anyone, let alone a makeshift right-back — and was unable to get a grip of the build-up play in the same way that he can at his best.
He improved after the interval but it kind of summed up the square pegs in round holes problem. Cunha had also moved elsewhere by that point. That, surely, was a Carrick mistake.
Tale of two flawed teams
For months, Liverpool — and to a lesser extent Manchester United — has been sweating on whether it would be playing Champions League soccer next term. Even before this match kicked off, we had the answer: both will be.
Bournemouth went in front early on against Crystal Palace and that game was very quickly only going one way, meaning that mathematically, there might be a tiny bit more work to be completed. It is very close to being a done deal for the pair, however.
While Manchester United and Liverpool are heading back into UEFA’s top competition, who is best placed to kick on and challenge for the Premier League title? On the evidence of the first half, there is only one reasonable answer. The second showed the reality: both of these teams remain very flawed.
Things should improve for Liverpool when the summer comes. Time on the training field will help, as will dipping into the transfer market once again. Manchester United winning, though, is never going to go down well.
