Manchester United didn't fix a streak of four Premier League games without victory, but they can be more than proud after achieving a 2-2 draw against Liverpool, England and Europe's top team right now. Sunday's game at Anfield was very evenly-matched... and one could say Man United was actually better than Liverpool, creating loads of goal opportunities.
Among Liverpool players, there was one that stood out... for all the wrong reasons: Trent Alexander-Arnold. Their homegrown midfielder - born in Liverpool - has been cherished by local fans, who can't stand the rumours that he is apparently going to sign for Real Madrid next season. But yesterday he was the target of all criticism.
The press and data analyst lashed out at Alexander-Arnold. Apparently, in 86 minutes, he didn't win any duel against Manchester United and only managed 77% of accurate passes. According to Opta data, WhoScored.com says that he is the defender that has been dribbled past more times than any other defender in Europe's top five leagues this season, 30 times.
Roy Keane, Sky Sports commentator and former Manchester United player, said that while Alexander-Arnold is usually "brilliant" going forward, his defending skills "were like schoolboy stuff", and joked: "They're talking about him going to Real Madrid, the way he's defending, he's going to Tranmere Rovers (a third division club) after this".
According to Jamie Carragher, another Sky Sports commentator, the rumours about his transfer to Real Madrid have distracted him. Trent finishes his contract on this year, but Real Madrid reportedly offered €18m (£20m) for signing him in January. "I thought he'd be thinking about how everyone's talking about him negatively, and that he'd put in a really big performance".