Thiago getting in tune
There aren’t many players who have a song in their honour aired during the interval of their home Liverpool debut.
But then the Reds have waited an awful long time to see Thiago Alcantara in action at Anfield.
Almost four months after the Spaniard arrived from Bayern Munich, he stepped on to his new home turf for the first time.
Unfortunately, of course, there were no supporters here to see it - or hear the reworked version of the Gibson Brothers hit Cuba in celebration of the new boy - once again banished after 2,000 had attended in each of the last three home matches.
Thiago had teased with his fleeting previous appearances, most recently purring as a second-half substitute in the FA Cup win against Aston Villa’s youngsters.
If Manchester United offered a more realistic challenge, it was difficult to tell during the opening half-hour in which Thiago added substance to his undoubted style, helping pen the visitors inside their defensive third for lengthy periods with his quick recycling of possession.
Impressive, too, was his willingness to get stuck in, even if at times the pace of the game understandably caught up with him after so long on the sidelines.
Liverpool may have been unconvincing going forward after the break but Thiago was central to many of their occasional opportunities – no Reds player completed more passes or key balls – with the Spaniard also firing a rasping 25-yard drive his friend David De Gea did well to beat out.
So far, so good. And there remains much more to come from the midfielder.
Fabinho keeps it clean
There aren’t many players who can claim to be the league’s best in two different positions.
But having demonstrated his worth as a defensive midfielder, Fabinho is putting forward a case as one of the top-flight's leading centre-backs.
While Liverpool may be struggling for goals at one end, at the back they have now conceded just six times in the 11 Premier Leagues games in which the Brazilian has started in the heart of defence.
He was impressive here, not least when, with United starting to probe in the closing stages, he hounded Marcus Rashford out of a good position when danger threatened.
Alongside him, with Joel Matip again unavailable, Jordan Henderson reprised the partnership first seen at Southampton a fortnight earlier, and offered Liverpool a greater passing range out of the back with some searching long passes.
There’s no doubt, though, the Reds are having to approach games slightly differently through not only being without their main centre-backs, but also two key midfielders.
Trent Alexander-Arnold, in particular, is finding it tough reshaping his game as a consequence.
Matip will be back soon. Nat Phillips is a very real contender to start against the brute force of Burnley on Thursday.
But Fabinho is the one helping ensure if Liverpool fall short this campaign, it won’t be through defensive frailties.
Shaqiri offers Klopp curveball
It didn’t take long for Xherdan Shaqiri to justify the faith shown in him by Jurgen Klopp.
His lively cameo at Villa Park – in which he provided two assists – was sufficient to be handed a first Premier League start since December 2019.
United wouldn’t have been expecting that. Just like neighbours City weren’t anticipating Liverpool to effectively line-up in a 4-2-4 formation at the Etihad in November.
The Reds gained an early lead that afternoon before City got to grips with matters, but couldn’t capitalise in the same manner this time around.
It wasn’t for the want of trying on Shaqiri’s part, the Swiss releasing Sadio Mane to then tee up Roberto Firmino for a chance the Brazilian horribly wasted.
On the right of the midfield three, Shaqiri did more than enough to indicate he can be an option in the coming weeks, this the first of seven games in 21 days which will go some way to shaping the remainder of Liverpool’s season.
