Player Ratings: Liverpool 1-0 Manchester United

Manchester United player ratings against Liverpool in the Barclays Premier League.

David de Gea – Had no chance for the goal and – one fairly harmless mix-up with Rio aside – largely faultless throughout. Fine save from Sterling late on, although had little else to deal with, showing that Liverpool won without necessarily playing all that well. (7)

Phil Jones – Solid enough before his enforced early departure, but – and stop me if I’ve perhaps mentioned this before – he’s very much a central defender playing on the flank. The team indisputably loses something when he’s at right-back instead of Rafael. (6)

Rio Ferdinand – For the most part continued his superb start to the campaign, but his performance is inevitably marred by the woeful piece of marking that allowed Agger to set up the decisive goal. (6)

Nemanja Vidic – Marshalled the back four well, a couple of sloppy moments aside. Can’t fault the skipper – or Rio – in terms of one-on-one and penalty box defending so far this season, but accommodating both the old-stagers by setting up so deep has knock-on effects elsewhere which need resolving. (6.5)

Patrice Evra – Arguably United’s best player thus far in this nascent campaign. Worked tirelessly up and down the left flank, looked secure in defence and drove United on literally and figuratively in pursuit of a way back into the game. (7, MOTM)

Ryan Giggs – Said after the Swansea game that you can tolerate a certain amount of wastefulness and spells on the fringes of the game from Ryan if – as so often happens – he provides an influential moment or two. That didn’t happen here and it was alarming that he wasn’t replaced sooner. (4)

Michael Carrick – Can’t have had many worse halves in a United shirt than the first 45 here. Seriously struggled when Liverpool, and Lucas in particular, really got in his face, and gave the ball away with incongruous regularity. Recovered to an extent after the break, but it’s to be hoped the addition of Fellaini helps him in these kinds of games. (4.5)

Tom Cleverley – Arguably dealt better with Liverpool high-tempo start than his more illustrious central midfield partner, but disappointed with his use of the ball as United sought an equaliser. Keeping things ticking along isn’t enough in such situations. (5)

Ashley Young – Deserved a chance after showing more in ten minutes than Valencia had in the previous 80 against Chelsea, but emphatically failed to seize it. An easy target, perhaps, but his early error proved hugely costly and he produced nothing going forward to redeem himself. (4)

Danny Welbeck – Apologies for damning him with faint praise, but the pick of United’s front six. Looked the most likely to make something happen as United chased the game, although could and should have been more selfish with a late opportunity. (6.5)

Robin van Persie – Largely an isolated, peripheral figure, and uncharacteristically spurned the one real chance that fell to him late on. Frustrations nearly boiled over just before half-time and expected fireworks of some kind after the break – not this time. (5)

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Antonio Valencia (for Jones 37) – Showed more attacking verve from right-back than he has done on the wing for quite some time, albeit without any sign of an end product. (6)

Nani (for Young 63) – Nani in a nutshell – made infuriatingly poor decisions, gave the ball away in awful positions but looked like making things happen. For me, the good is worth putting up with the bad, but whether a pragmatic coach like David Moyes agrees remains to be seen. (6)

Javier Hernández (for Giggs 73) – Helped inject greater urgency into United’s comeback bid and provided perhaps our most clear-cut chance of the day late on. Unfortunate no goalscoring opportunities came along for him. (6)

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