United handcuffs vaunted Reds

Six-man defense

Emre Can of Liverpool battles with Paul Pogba of Manchester United during English Premier League match at Anfield, Oct 17, 2016. [Photo/IC]

United largely succeeded in keeping the Reds off balance, with wide players Marcus Rashford and Ashley Young notably dropping deep to create a six-man defense at times.

The visitors managed a clear chance early in the second half when Paul Pogba, playing in a more advanced role, picked out Zlatan Ibrahimovic, only for the Swede to miscue his header.

Liverpool improved following the 59th-minute introduction of Adam Lallana, either side of which De Gea made brilliant saves to foil Can and Coutinho.

"We lost patience far too early and our passing game was not good," said Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, whose side trails City by two points.

"We had 65 percent possession, but we have to do better. I didn't expect we would have 10 to 15 chances. We had chances in the second half, but De Gea was finally warm and he made brilliant saves.

"They had that chance with Ibrahimovic. The best news tonight is we have one point more and a clean sheet, nothing else.

"We can do much better and we must do much better. We have to stay cool. When they want to chase us, we have to use smart counter movements.

"My side had really good attitude. They tried everything, only with the wrong tools."

Klopp dismissed suggestions his players were affected by being pegged as the pre-match favorite.

"Maybe you think it is very important for the rest of the world what you write, but for us it is not important at all," he said.

"We were not favorites in the dressing room. Tonight nobody thought about this.

"You could see Man United is physically stronger than we are. We couldn't get rid of the hectic mindset-that was the problem.

"When you have the ball you have to calm down immediately and that is what we didn't do."