Manchester United suffered their second defeat of the Premier League campaign against arch-rivals Liverpool on Sunday.
The Red Devils started off brilliantly at Old Trafford and they had close to 65 percent possession in the opening 30 minutes.
However, it was Liverpool who broke the deadlock in the 35th minute after Casemiro gifted cheap possession in the lead-up.
With Diogo Dalot higher up the field, Mohamed Salah delivered a lovely cross beyond the central defence for Luis Diaz to head home.
Before half-time, Salah and Diaz combined again for the second Reds goal. Casemiro was once more to blame for his poor awareness.
Salah put the game to bed with Liverpool’s third goal in the 56th minute which came from Kobbie Mainoo losing possession.
Liverpool eventually won the contest fair and square. Casemiro had a dreadful first half and he was substituted at the interval.
We won’t be surprised if he starts on the bench after the international break.
In our opinion, Joshua Zirkzee could likewise be dropped after a tough full league debut for United.
The 23-year-old struggled to cope with the intensity of the derby and he barely made an impact during the opening 45 minutes.
Zirkzee had one good shot early in the second half, but he went on to squander two big chances created by Marcus Rashford.
The 23-year-old had a free header on goal, but his effort was straight at goalkeeper Alisson.
Rashford delivered another peach of a cross for Zirkzee, but the former Bologna man dragged his effort wide off the far post.
Aside from his misses, Zirkzee failed to win any of his 10 ground and aerial duels. He lost possession of 12 occasions in the game.
He was also unsuccessful with his three take-ons. We believe Zirkzee needs more time to adapt to the league’s higher intensity.
Rasmus Hojlund is presently recovering from a hamstring injury and he is braced to make his comeback after the international break.
The Dane may not be rushed back into action. If Zirkzee is dropped, manager Erik ten Hag could go with a 4-2-2-2 formation in the short-term.
We could see Rashford and Fernandes leading the attack with Alejandro Garnacho and Amad Diallo operating from the wide attacking roles.
Stats from Sofascore.com
