"Poor defending" - Dean Saunders on Liverpool's efforts against Manchester United

Pundit Dean Saunders has taken aim at Liverpool after their 2-1 defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford last night.

The Reds were all over the place defensively (especially Trent Alexander-Arnold) against the Red Devils. Manchester United carved Liverpool open on a number of occasions.

With that being the case, Saunders did not hold back when giving his opinion on the game.

As quoted by AW on Twitter, he told talkSPORT: "(It was) a bad start and some poor defending from Alexander-Arnold and Joe Gomez. Looked as if (he) was rusty and had a tough night last night.

"Trent, I don’t know, for the first goal, he gets one-two’d. Don’t get me wrong, going forward (he’s) world class but defensively he’s getting found out. (Aleksandar) Mitrovic came over the top of him at Fulham.

"Vinicius Jr in the Champions League final does him at the back post. He gave the ball away for the goal against Palace and last night, he jogs out to (Anthony) Elanga. He gets one-two’d and then walks to (Jadon) Sancho in the box.

"(Virgil) van Dijk should have gone out and closed the ball down so it’s partly his fault as well but if Trent keeps running, he gets his foot in when he chops back inside.

"The second goal, he hits a diagonal into the box, loses it and he doesn’t sprint back. (Marcus Rashford) looked to me offside by the way but it wasn’t given. Gomez is left in the channel stranded."

Anfield Watch Verdict

Defensively, Liverpool have been ordinary this season. The Reds have shipped five goals in three Premier League fixtures.

Last season, Liverpool only conceded 26 goals in 38 top-flight matches. So, there has been a considerable drop off defensively in the early parts of the new campaign.

Every time the opposition go forward, it feels like Liverpool are going to concede. With that being the case, something needs to change.

The team looks bereft of energy and confidence. Hopefully we see an improvement in the coming weeks. Otherwise, it is going to be a long season.