A stifling and clinical display from Manchester United earns them a 2-1 win over Liverpool as Mohamed Salah blanks for only the third time in 21 Gameweek starts.
The Old Trafford crowd doesn’t normally go home happy when their side has allowed opponents 68% possession and been out-shot 14-5.
But when it leads to a victory over Liverpool, it’s all about ends justifying means.
United had just two shots on target all match and both led to Marcus Rashford goals.
The first came when a Romelu Lukaku header sent the England man through to beat Trent Alexander-Arnold and finish with aplomb.
Rashford then doubled the advantage before the break, with Liverpool gaining some reward for their second-half dominance when the returning Eric Bailly sliced Sadio Mane’s cross into his own net.
That assist, together with four dribbles and a match-high three chances created, earned the Senegal international two bonus points, while Rashford earned the maximum.
The Reds strove in vain for an equaliser, but of the 14 attempts they had, only one came from Salah.
The Egyptian was captained by 966,000 Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers (16.6%), while 27.2% of his 3.5 million owners skippered him, although he was not the most popular armband choice for the first time since Gameweek 27.
Harry Kane took that accolade this weekend as Salah’s run of six goals from the last five Gameweeks came to an end in a match where United kept him to just three touches in the box, and one chance created.
The 41.6%-owned Roberto Firmino was more productive – he had three attempts and created one chance – and the market in Liverpool’s front three will no doubt remain busy ahead of their Gameweek 31 fixture at home to Watford.
Investment elsewhere in the side is more difficult to justify.
In central midfield, coach Jurgen Klopp rang the changes by bringing in James Milner for Jordan Henderson, while this week’s partner for Virgil van Dijk was again Dejan Lovren, preferred to Joel Matip at centre-half for the second Gameweek running.
Alexander-Arnold made a fifth successive start at right-back, although the ease with which he was beaten by Rashford for the opening goal won’t further his cause with Joe Gomez back to full fitness and Nathaniel Clyne close to a return as well.
Probably the strongest case for Gameweek 31 inclusion outside the attacking trio comes from Van Dijk, whose two attempts from set-pieces today was a reminder of his attacking credentials.
United for the future
Interest in United assets is likely to be deferred for now.
Gameweek 31 is a blank, as they’ll face Brighton in the FA Cup quarter-finals, and we won’t be going back to their players until the result of that tie is confirmed.
If they get past the Seagulls and into the last four, then they will doubtless be a source of talent for managers deploying their Wildcard in Gameweeks 32 or 33 and their Free Hit chip in Gameweek 35 – when the semi-finals take place.
We’re still awaiting confirmation on or around March 19 of Gameweek 34 being a double. If so, United would face a trip to West Ham and a visit from West Brom.
By then, only a home match with Arsenal looks troublesome in their run-in, although they remain in the Champions League to raise the spectre of rotation.
Against Liverpool, Rashford delivered his first goals since Gameweek 16, while Lukaku’s flick-on for the opener means that he’s produced either a goal or an assist in six of his last eight starts now (four goals, three assists).
But the Belgian had just one shot on goal today, although that was one better than Alexis Sanchez.
The Chilean was deployed as a No10 behind Lukaku and had only two penalty area touches and no shots. He did, however, create two opportunities for team-mates, one of which was a big chance.
Paul Pogba failed a late fitness test after reports surfaced on Friday evening that he had suffered a gashed leg in training, as confirmed by Jose Mourinho.
“He is injured. [It happened] yesterday in training, an unlucky situation, and he is out. I don’t know how long he is out for.”
The midfielder’s place went to Juan Mata, while Rashford’s encouraging performance from the bench against Crystal Palace earned him his first start since Gameweek 21.
Jesse Lingard (10.8%) dropped to the bench, while David De Gea was subbed out by 10.4% of his 2.5 million owners today and has now managed just one clean sheet and three save points from the last six Gameweeks.
Lingard, Pogba and the injured Phil Jones are all in the top five for transfers-out heading into their blank Gameweek 31 and, with a trip to Man City looming in Gameweek 33, more sales of United assets look likely before their schedule turns favourable for the season’s final push.
