Oh Ruben Amorim, what were you thinking? Manchester United’s steady revival under Michael Carrick has been down to more than one player. But on occasions such as these you do have to wonder how the former manager could have mishandled Kobbie Mainoo as badly as he did.
Three days after committing his long-term future to United, Mainoo scored a stunning winner against Liverpool that secured their first league double over their bitter rivals for a decade and crucially, with it, Champions League qualification.
And to think, if Amorim had stayed on as manager the England midfielder could have left Old Trafford on loan in January.
A sliding doors moment? Perhaps. Carrick was not exactly reinventing the wheel by bringing Mainoo in from the cold given most fans were at a loss to explain why the brightest young talent in the club was pushed to the fringes by Amorim to begin with.
But his restoration of the 21-year-old to the heart of United’s midfield has been central to their climb back up the table and back into Europe’s premier club competition and has naturally strengthened his prospects of keeping the job beyond the end of the season.
It has been a season of two very contrasting halves for Mainoo and his team and it was no surprise to hear United’s match-winner talking up Carrick after this. “He gives so much confidence not just to me but all the players,” the midfielder said. “You want to follow him, you want to fight for him, you want to die for him on the pitch. I feel like we showed that today.”
Matheus Cunha went even further. “We’re learning so much,” the United forward said. “When Michael comes, he came with magic. He talks so much about his team [as] the conquering team and this feeling comes to us. This feeling comes to us. We feel so happy with the information [he gives us] and we focus so hard to reach the objective. At the end of the day, this is just the start of the journey. It’s the beginning – [but] a beautiful beginning.”
Carrick will hope it is. “I love doing what I’m doing,” he said. “It’s a great position for me to be in and it feels pretty natural if I’m totally honest.”
Cunha even talked about Carrick’s “Alex Ferguson vibes” which, on a day in which the legendary former manager had arrived at Old Trafford only to be taken away in an ambulance to hospital after falling unwell, carried a certain resonance.
Ferguson would certainly have loved the way United started this game and then recovered it late on after throwing a 2-0 lead because of two sloppy passes nine minutes apart early in the second half.
United were coasting at half-time and probably should have had more than goals from Cunha and Benjamin Sesko to show for their superiority, with their otherwise outstanding captain Bruno Fernandes and Cunha both squandering excellent chances.
But the game was turned on its head when first a misplaced pass from Amad Diallo to Dominik Szoboszlai was brutally punished by the Liverpool midfielder and then a rare blunder from Senne Lammens led to Cody Gakpo being gifted an equaliser.
Enter Mainoo. A thrilling match had bounced from end to end when United found themselves on the attack 13 minutes from time. Cunha played Luke Shaw in behind and from the byline the United left-back stood up a cross to the far post.
Alexis Mac Allister only partially cleared Amad’s header and from there Mainoo coolly steered a bouncing, spinning ball low into the bottom corner despite Szoboszlai careering across in a vain bid to thwart him.
It was a sublime finish from a player with a real nose for goal and one enjoying a new lease of life under Carrick’s direction after his strange alienation by Amorim. Not a bad way to cap off a week in which you have just ended two years of protracted negotiations to sign a new five-year contract.
With Alexander Isak, Mohamed Salah and Hugo Ekitike all injured for Liverpool, Carrick had predicted Arne Slot would try to overload the midfield and United countered it superbly. That owed much to the defensive work and positional play of Bryan Mbeumo, enjoying a marked return to form after a quiet two months, Cunha and Fernandes ahead of Mainoo and Casemiro. Liverpool could not live with them.
Slot was unhappy United’s second goal was allowed to stand after VAR ruled Sesko had not handled, even though the Liverpool manager felt he had, and argued it followed a pattern of decisions that have gone against his side all season.
The ball bounced in an unwitting Sesko’s chest, perhaps brushing a hand in the process, after Freddie Woodman had palmed Fernandes’s header from Shaw’s cross into the United striker’s midriff. There had also been an element of good fortune about United’s first goal when Cunha’s slot deflected in off Mac Allister’s backside but, make no mistake about it, Liverpool were overwhelmed it that period. And Slot recognised as much, cursing the “ridiculous” goals his team continue to concede and players switching off and losing the ball in “stupid” positions.
This was a Liverpool unrecognisable in that first half from the side that hammered United 5-0, 4-0 and 7-0 over a period of 18 months under Jürgen Klopp. But they rallied after the break, driven forward by Szoboszlai, and would even have gone in front in the 68th minute but for Lammens atoning from his earlier error by keeping out Virgil van Dijk’s close-range effort from Szoboszlai’s free-kick.
The United goalkeeper had passed the ball straight to Mac Allister from a short goal-kick by Ayden Heaven, allowing Szoboszlai to square to Gakpo to score. Before then, Amad’s stray pass had been intercepted by Szoboszlai in his own half. Liverpool’s best player this season charged forward, drove past Harry Maguire and then drilled a fine finish into the corner.
It was Mainoo, though, who would have the last laugh.
Carrick on United’s performance
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We scored a lot of goals, we have scored in the past five games. Our focus has been out of possession work. We try to put our strength in the game, we started the game well, I’m just as pleased with the way we finished the game, two set backs could have knocked us but the players were quality, and we came out on top.
More from Slot...
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We had a lot of ball possession, one of their strengths is also defending. I tried to play a bit more on both sides with the wingers. We went a bit too much for the middle in the first-half where they can counter attack you.”
Yeah I don’t think anyone expected us to lose that game after a 2-2. Or maybe you do after the whole of our season. As I’ve shown so many times this season, when we are playing well or we think we are able to win it, we switch off. The ball fell to Mainoo and a great finish for them.
Slot on Liverpool’s problems
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We weren’t able to control their strengths. We were aware of them - set-pieces and counter-attack. You have to know where to lose the ball if you play against United. They are really strong when they play into the middle. They have so many fast players, Bruno Fernandes to hurt you in transition and that’s exactly what happened with the second goal. That is what happens. We were 2-0 down, came back in the second-half to 2-2 and then we shut off and immediately conceded the goal.
Szoboszlai on Liverpool’s performance
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Not good, we go home with zero points and after the first half we shouldn’t be happy at all, we should be who we were at the start of the second half.
You concede from a set piece, you talk about counter attacks and that’s how the second goal happens, we have to focus more and look at the details.
One record broken... another one to come?
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120 - Bruno Fernandes has created 120 chances in the Premier League this season, the most by a Manchester United player in a season on record since 2003-04; the previous most was 119, by Fernandes in 2022-23. Conductor. pic.twitter.com/xp1rFZcqaL
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) May 3, 2026
Mainoo on his change of fortunes post-Amorim
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It was difficult, of course, any time you’re not playing football.
I just tried to look forward as much as possible, keep working hard and keep my head down to get these things from it.
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) May 3, 2026⭐️ Monday: Stands out against Brentford
✍️ Thursday: Signs new contract
⚽️ Sunday: Late winner against LiverpoolQuite the week for Kobbie 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/NPKhpSRcac
Is the job his now?
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8 - Michael Carrick is only the sixth manager – and first English manager – to win 8+ of his opening 9 home games in the @premierleague, and first since Antonio Conte in 2016-17 (also 8/9). Compelling. pic.twitter.com/O5fRyUxj9E
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) May 3, 2026
How the Champions League race looks now
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Liverpool’s final three games are Chelsea (H), Aston Villa (A) and Brentford (H)
FT: United 3 Liverpool 2
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United will play Champions League football next season and Carrick has now beaten Man City, Arsenal and Liverpool in the Premier League. Their first league double over Liverpool since 2015-2016. United fans will tell you they did that in typical fashion: the hard way. Winning the game, throwing it away, before winning it all over again. Holes in both teams’ performances, but plenty of drama. Liverpool should still go on to confirm Champions League qualification, but losing at Old Trafford always stings.
94 minutes: United 3 Liverpool 2
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Chiesa floats a cross just over the head of Van Dijk before Dorgu and Chiesa have a grapple in midfield, and England gives the decision in Liverpool’s favour. Another chance for Liverpool to put the ball in the mixer. Casemiro heads away, and then Chiesa loses the ball with an attempted quick throw in. That should be that now.
92 minutes: United 3 Liverpool 2
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That could have been a dangerous pull back from Kerkez, but the ball deflected off Amad’s shins and run through to Lammens. Three more minutes for Liverpool to find an equaliser.
90 minutes: United 3 Liverpool 2
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There will be five minutes of stoppage time to play. Amad wins a foul, before an ambitious Fernandes shot is sliced over. Liverpool go on the attack.
89 minutes: United 3 Liverpool 2
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Liverpool applying some pressure, probing around the edge of the United box but you can see they are reluctant to cross the ball with no specialist striker on the pitch. United see off the attack, and then Dorgu drags a shot wide.
87 minutes: United 3 Liverpool 2
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Last throw of the dice from Slot: Chiesa on for Konate. You sense Liverpool will get another chance, it has been that kind of game.
84 minutes: United 3 Liverpool 2
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Amusing moment there with United under pressure: the referee got in Fernandes’ way and the United captain gave Darren England an earful. Ordinarily, I think he’d have been booked for dissent, but the referee knew it was his fault in this first place so let him off. Gakpo shoots straight at Lammens on the turn, would have been uproar had that gone in. Gravenberch is then booked for a foul in midfield.
82 minutes: United 3 Liverpool 2
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Chance for Ngumoha! United way too open again, and the 17-year-old winger cuts inside from the left and shoots not far wide of the far post with his right foot. Liverpool still swinging punches.
81 minutes: United 3 Liverpool 2
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United had a four-on-two with Cunha driving down the middle of the pitch, but Dorgu hesitated in the box and went down looking for a hopeful penalty. Then Fernandes is booked for clamping Szoboszlai on the ankle with his studs.
80 minutes: United 3 Liverpool 2
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Ngumoha switched off in the build up to that goal. Can United stay compact and see this result home?
It’s hard to overstate how good that finish is. The ball was spinning and bouncing and Szoboszlai careering across so to finish with such control, power and precision was outstanding. He’s a remarkable nose for goal has Mainoo. In the week he signed a new contract five months after Amorim was willing to bomb him out, a potential winner against Liverpool of all people would be quite the story.
GOOOOALLL! Mainoo restores United’s lead
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He has done it before against Liverpool at the Stretford End, and that is a really crisp finish by Mainoo. Clever pass from Cunha to release Shaw, and he stands up a cross to the back post which Amad heads across goal. Mac Allister does not get enough on this clearance, and Mainoo arrives at the edge of the box to sweep the ball into the bottom corner first time.
75 minutes: United 2 Liverpool 2
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Thought we might see another spectacular Szoboszlai free-kick, but he hammered the shot straight into the two-man wall which may well have been encroaching. Curtis Jones booked for stopping a counter.
Changes: Frimpong off, Ngumoha on for Liverpool, and Dorgu replaces Mbeumo for United.
72 minutes: United 2 Liverpool 2
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Casemiro plants a header straight at Woodman when he was unmarked. The Brazilian keeps pushing forward into the penalty area. Liverpool break through Kerkez, and Fernandes is penalised for a foul on Wirtz. Another threatening set-piece for Liverpool.
The identity of Liverpool’s player of the season was decided long ago: Dominik Szoboszlai has been a beacon through the gloom but you could argue this has been his best performance of the campaign. He’s argued with team-mates, he’s demanded more from them and he’s gone into overdrive in the second period. He is as likely as anyone to settle a contest that remains delicately balanced.
70 minutes: United 2 Liverpool 2
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Liverpool with another corner, they are on top and look the most likely winner. Flat delivery again, but Fernandes clears. United have not lost at Old Trafford when leading 2-0 at half-time since 1984.
67 minutes: United 2 Liverpool 2
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Cunha trips Gravenberch after a surge through midfield from the Liverpool man, and they have a free-kick in a dangerous crossing position centre right.
How has that not gone in?! Scramble in the six-yard box with the ball bouncing everywhere, but Lammens saved with his feet. Great delivery by Szoboszlai.
64 minutes: United 2 Liverpool 2
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Fair to say we are seeing why neither team is close to being involved in the title race, some shocking defending on display. Liverpool’s back four is zig-zagged across the pitch and one ball over the top catches them out, but Kerkez recovered to block Mbeumo’s shot.
62 minutes: United 2 Liverpool 2
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United are now the team who cannot cope with defensive transitions. Casemiro is pushing forward, and when play breaks down Liverpool are playing through midfield so easily. Gakpo with a shot which deflects over the bar.
59 minutes: United 2 Liverpool 2
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Slot has made his first change of the afternoon: Kerkez on for Robertson. Midfield has been United’s problem in this half, Liverpool shirts popping up around and behind Mainoo and Casemiro.
Lammens has been United’s best and most consistent performer alongside Fernandes this season and one of the signings of the season but he won’t want to watch that back. He’s initially looking in the direction of Kobbie Mainoo when he receives the short goal kick from Heaven but hesitates and, caught in two minds, plays a sloppy pass straight at MacAllister. Liverpool made the most of the gift from there. That Fernandes or Cunha chance goes in and United take a 3-0 lead into half-time but the game has turned on its head inside nine minutes.
GOOOOOAALL! Calamity strikes for United
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Within 11 minutes of the second half, Liverpool are level. Mac Allister reads a Lammens pass into midfield from his own six-yard box, and Szoboszlai’s first-time lay-off is perfect for Gakpo to finish first time into an open net. “What a nonsense,” says Gary Neville. Anyone’s game now.
55 minutes: United 2 Liverpool 1
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Too much space behind the United midfield again, nice interplay from Liverpool but Wirtz’s shot from 25 yards was wide and lacked power.
54 minutes: United 2 Liverpool 1
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The offside flag is up, but that was almost a brilliant United goal. Casemiro with the ball over the top, exquisite control for Fernandes to pluck it out of the sky, before Mbeumo’s backheel across goal clips the far post.
52 minutes: United 2 Liverpool 1
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The game is really stretched now, so much green grass for both teams to break into, acres of space in midfield. Casemiro and Mainoo were caught ahead of the ball, but Szoboszlai could not squeeze the pass through to Frimpong. You feel United will get chances to score a third, though.
There is obvious potential here for Liverpool, even if it had seemed unlikely before half-time. Manchester United struggled after an early flurry against Brentford here last Monday and were hanging on at the end. Liverpool have plenty more time on their hands to play with and the atmosphere in the stadium has changed.
50 minutes: United 2 Liverpool 1
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Liverpool’s tails are up now, United struggling to play out from their own defensive third, and Frimpong has won a couple of free-kicks in dangerous crossing positions wide right. United stand firm and head clear.
GOOOOAALL! Szoboszlai pulls one back
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Liverpool’s best player this season has dragged them back into the contest. It is a stray pass by Amad, square across midfield straight to Szoboszlai. The midfielder carried the ball towards the edge of the box, and just kept going and going, before passing the ball into the far corner with his left foot. Cool finish.
47 minutes: United 2 Liverpool 0
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Maguire with a header wide from a United corner early in the half. Van Dijk with a stray header straight to Mbeumo to start the move off.
Half-time change for United
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Sesko off, Amad on. Unclear if that is a tactical choice or an injury.
“Every single one of us loves Sir Alex Ferguson,” is ringing around Old Trafford.
Roy Keane withering on Liverpool’s performance
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“Liverpool look frightened to death,” Keane says. “Robertson’s defending and going forward... dreadful. Liverpool look like a five-a-side team, a bad five-a-side team.”
No Fernandes assist on the second goal
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Woodman’s touch means he remains on 19 Premier League assists for the season, one behind Henry and De Bruyne’s record.
On ongoing problem
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17 - Liverpool have conceded 17 goals from set-piece situations (excl. penalties) in the Premier League this season - now their most ever in a single campaign in the competition, overtaking 16 in 1992-93. Seized. pic.twitter.com/RD24Uy72Cr
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) May 3, 2026
HT: United 2 Liverpool 0
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United fans have not been able to delight in a day like this against Liverpool for quite some time. They have won games against them yes, but they have not been this dominant, almost toying with their great rivals. Strong all-round performance from United, but Liverpool have been that horrible combination of toothless up front and brittle at the back. Their injury situations deserves some sympathy but it is hard to see how Slot changes the pattern from here.
14 - After just 14 minutes, this is the earliest Manchester United have ever gone 2-0 ahead in a Premier League match against Liverpool. Traps. pic.twitter.com/oWf3QvGfGQ
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) May 3, 2026
45+3 minutes: United 2 Liverpool 0
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From the second phase of a United corner, Casemiro meets an inswinging Fernandes cross at the back post but the flag was up for offside.
45 minutes: United 2 Liverpool 0
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Maguire slips but manages to block Wirtz’s shot with his head, a bit of a painful one. Four minutes of added time to play.
44 minutes: United 2 Liverpool 0
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Cunha twisting and turning at the edge of the box, Konate should clear it but dallies, and Sesko almost takes it off of him in his own penalty area. Woodman hacks the ball away. More uncertain defending from Liverpool.
United are just sharper, faster hungrier than Liverpool in and out of possession. The opposite has often been true in this fixture over the last seven or eight years. It’s a decade since United last did the league double over United and they’ve put themselves in a strong position here to do just that.
42 minutes: United 2 Liverpool 0
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Gravenberch with a tame shot shot from distance straight at Lammens before a Jones through ball is aimless. United find joy again by switching play from left to right to Mbeumo, before Robertson wins an important header to stop Mbeumo meeting a cross at the back post.
39 minutes: United 2 Liverpool 0
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Reasonable approach play from Liverpool involving Gravenberch and Szoboszlai but then Frimpong is caught offside. Just no punch up top from Liverpool, which is not a surprise with no Salah, Isak or Ekitike. Powder puff so far, there’s something of late-era Wenger’s Arsenal about it.
35 minutes: United 2 Liverpool 0
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Every touch and pass looks a chore for Liverpool at the moment, even their moments of possession look a little edgy.
Strange moment at the edge of the United box.. Frimpong makes slight contact with the boot of Shaw and goes down, and everyone around the ball just stopped playing. VAR checks, but never a penalty in a million years.
33 minutes: United 2 Liverpool 0
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Fernandes tried to float a free-kick on to the head of Maguire after a Mac Allister foul on Mainoo, but Liverpool defend their box and clear. Wirtz with a stray pass across midfield, but Szoboszlai did enough to put off Cunha as he ran at the back four. Wirtz is clutching his ankle.
29 minutes: United 2 Liverpool 0
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“Too often we have seen this type of performance: soft and weak,” says Jamie Carragher of Liverpool’s efforts so far. “Flick here, flick there, you’re getting beat 2-0 at Man Utd. Forget backheels... five-a-side football.”
United continue to look in control, Casemiro winning a free-kick in midfield.
27 minutes: United 2 Liverpool 0
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It should be three! Liverpool cannot cope with this United attacks launched over big distances, they are struggling with the switch of play whenever they lose the ball. Mbeumo released down the right, pulls a cross back behind the defence and Fernandes was free as a bird but fired wide with his first-time shot.
24 minutes: United 2 Liverpool 0
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Liverpool’s best moment so far: Gakpo with their first shot of the game, just wide from around 25 yards. Just before that, Van Dijk did well to read play with Liverpool open the United counter yet again.
22 minutes: United 2 Liverpool 0
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The run-offs around the perimeter of the pitch are particularly steep at Old Trafford, and Sesko has just gone tumbling after a push in the back by Konate. Those type of fouls should be punished far more harshly, it is dangerous play. The referee did not even give the foul.
19 minutes: United 2 Liverpool 0
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We said the stakes were not particularly high, but the last thing Slot needs here is a hiding. Liverpool have had plenty of the ball since conceding the first goal, but are yet to test Lammens and they look vulnerable whenever United break at pace.
The way this game has started, Liverpool are giving the impression they were beaten before they even left the tunnel. Yes there are injuries but the minimum expected in this fixture is heart and fight and nobody is showing any. This is going to be a long, long afternoon.
VAR check: GOAL STANDS
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They were checking to see if the final contact came off the fingertips of Sesko, but replays were inconclusive so the goal stands and United are two up.
GOOOOALL! Sesko doubles United’s lead
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He thought he should have had a penalty moments earlier, but the big striker has now bundled in a messy second, and it is another assist for Fernandes if I’m not mistaken.
United finding gaps so easily in the Liverpool back four so easily. Fernandes whipped a cross through the box which Sesko almost tapped in under pressure from Jones.
Follow up cross came in from the left, Fernandes won a strong header at the back post, and Woodman palms the ball against Sesko and the ball bounces over the line.
We await to see if that is a Fernandes assist, because Woodman got the final touch before Sesko.
12 minutes: United 1 Liverpool 0
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Mainoo waits for the contact from Szoboszlai to win a free-kick in midfield, Liverpool feel it was soft and that the United man was dallying on the ball. Liverpool win the ball back in open space after a loose ball breaks their way in midfield but Robertson’s touch was heavy up against Dalot.
9 minutes: United 1 Liverpool 0
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Liverpool enjoying more possession now, and they find Szoboszlai free between the lines but Gravenberch’s cross was poor. Heaven shuffles across to usher a through ball behind for a United goal kick.
GOOOOAALLL! Cunha gives United the lead
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United have been knocking at the door and have just bashed it down. Robertson’s near-post header from the corner only travelled as far as the edge of the box, Cunha’s first shot was blocked, but his follow up effort with his left foot deflected off Mac Aillister and nestled in the corner.
5 minutes: United 0 Liverpool 0
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United on top in the early exchanges, emboldened to step on to Liverpool knowing there is not much threat going the other way. Mbeumo picks up a lovely piece of space behind Robertson, Konate defends against Sesko at the expense of a corner.
Sir Alex Ferguson has left Old Trafford
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Reports state the former United manager was taken unwell and attended to by medics.
2 minutes: United 0 Liverpool 0
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The early indications, when Liverpool are pressing at least, is that Wirtz and Szoboszlai are advanced like a front two with Gakpo on the left. Echoes of the system Liverpool used at Manchester City last week.
United on the attack though after Sesko lays the ball off for Dalot but Van Dijk clears Fernandes’ low cross.
The Fernandes whips another ball across the box, Jones defends well against Sesko but the flag is up in any case.
The teams are out at Old Trafford
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The usual pre-match soundtrack of This Is The One and Take Me Home, Country Roads.
It was suggested in some quarters this morning that the edge would be missing from this game, given both clubs are almost certain of top five finishes. Nobody has told that to the 70,000 who are in here making a din that has your ears ringing. The odds are against Liverpool but in this most unusual season, would you be surprised if they pulled off a shock?
Diego Forlan being presented on the pitch
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The Uruguayan had surely his greatest moment in a United shirt against Liverpool, scoring twice in two minutes at Anfield when he pounced on a Jerzy Dudek mistake.
How the race for Champions League football looks
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As things stand, Bournemouth will hop into sixth. They are currently 2-0 up against Crystal Palace.
Isak absent with a groin problem
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Slot confirms the nature of the injury and says it is typical of Liverpool’s season that they have lost a key player straight after winning a game.
Fernandes one shy of matching record
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Manchester United’s playmakers sits on 19 Premier League assists for the season, one short of matching Kevin De Bruyne and Thierry Henry’s record in a single campaign. Nobody has gone beyond Henry’s tally in the 23 years since he claimed the record, but Fernandes has the chance to beat it.
Carragher: United should stick with Carrick
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Debate will rage over whether United should appoint Carrick on a permanent basis. In his latest Telegraph Sport column, Jamie Carragher weighs up the options and the club’s predicament and concludes that they would better served by sticking rather than twisting.
Next season will be one for consolidation as the number of fixtures and demands on the squad increases, not for another giant leap comparable to going from 15th into the top three, as they have in the last 12 months.
What is truly at stake is the steady improvement which Carrick has overseen since taking over in January.
Given where they are now, do United really want another unveiling interview with a coach talking about “a long-term project”? They would risk going backwards just when everything feels much better.
Liverpool team news
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That is a very light Liverpool bench, with no senior midfield options and just Federico Chiesa and young Rio Ngumoha to call upon as attacking changes. I’m sure many fans would have liked Slot to pick Ngumoha over Gakpo. With no Ekitike, Salah or Isak, it is a strikerless team by necessity. I suspect Wirtz will be the most advanced.
Liverpool XI: Woodman, Jones; Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Gravenberch, Mac Allister, Szoboszlai; Frimpong, Gakpo, Wirtz
Subs: Pecsi, Gomez, Kerkez, Chiesa, Nyoni, Morrison, Ngumoha, Ndiaye, Wright
Team news is in for our clash with Manchester United ✊ #MUNLIV
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) May 3, 2026
Manchester United team news
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United a little stretched at the back, but interesting that Carrick has put his faith in Ayden Heaven. It is an attacking choice to play Benjamin Sesko, rather than add an extra midfielder off a side like Mason Mount. That is undoubtedly United’s best front six.
Manchester United XI: Lammens, Dalot, Maguire, Heaven, Shaw, Casemiro, Mainoo, Mbeumo, Bruno Fernandes, Cunha, Sesko
Subs: Bayindir, Mazraoui, Mount, Zirkzee, Malacia, Dorgu, Yoro, Amad, Ugarte
Today's team news is in! 🔴📋
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) May 3, 2026
Low stakes, but Manchester United vs Liverpool important for both managers
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This may well be one of the most low-key renewals of Manchester United and Liverpool’s rivalry in recent memory, all but assured of Champions League football and out of contention for silverware.
Both teams and managers have something to prove, though. The smart money would appear to be on Michael Carrick and Arne Slot staying in post for the start of next season, but neither would start the campaign with a great deal of security.
The fixture also matters a great deal to both sets of supporters, with Liverpool looking to avenge what was then a shock 2-1 defeat at Anfield. Harry Maguire scored the late winner in what was the high-water mark of Ruben Amorim’s time in charge.
It is a long time since the teams played at Old Trafford, with a 3-0 Liverpool victory last September helping Slot to get his feet under the table. The win would also propel Liverpool to the title.
Carrick has already steered United to wins over Manchester City and Arsenal, and what a trifecta it would be if he could add Liverpool to the list.
Carrick said: “It shows the improvements of the group and getting stronger to be coming into this game in a good position on the back of some good results and trying to achieve moving forward.
“We’re fully aware of the situation in the league and how close it is between us, but that’s not something we’ve focused on.
“It’s a one-off game. They’ve got some good players and they won the league last year, and we respect everything that goes into the game.”
Arne Slot will be without Mohamed Salah owing to a hamstring tweak sustained in the win over Crystal Palace last week and it remains to be seen if goalkeeper Alisson is fit enough to return.
Full team news on the way shortly.