The first half of the massive Manchester United versus Liverpool match was goalless, but featured plenty of injuries and substitutions. There are a lot of news worthy topics to discuss from the first 45 minutes and the run-up to the match, so let’s dive right in and cover the trending topics that relate to this one.
It appears the decision interim manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer made to play Jesse Lingard has backfired. It seems that he was rushed back before truly ready and now he’s gotten hurt again.
HT Manchester Utd 0-0 Liverpool
?Ander Herrera
?Andreas Pereira
?Juan Mata
?Jesse Lingard
?Roberto Firmino
?Daniel Sturridge
?Jesse Lingard
?Alexis SanchezThe physios have been busier than the goalkeepers.
? https://t.co/2XJrpByCTT #MUNLIV #MUFC #LFC pic.twitter.com/EoTA4VwVYi— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) February 24, 2019
? 21’
? Herrara Injured
? Pereira Subbed On? 25’
? Mata Injured
? Lingard Subbed On? 43’
? Lingard Injured
? Sanchez Subbed On? All substitutions used before HT. pic.twitter.com/hJ5EHNnI13
— SPORF (@Sporf) February 24, 2019
Additionally, Marcus Rashford is playing through the entire match in a condition that is far from fit and everybody watching has noticed it. He’s basically hobbling around on one leg, and even the broadcast announcers on NBC said the Red Devils are essentially playing with 10 men, noting the low work rate of Rashford, and the noticeable pain that he is in.
Additionally, midfielders Juan Mata and Ander Herrera were both subbed off early. United could have a full blown injury crisis on their hands.
Forget about this game and this result, the rest of the season could now be a lot more adverse and their push for a top four finish may have been dealt a severe blow.
https://twitter.com/utdxtra/status/1099682594986381313
Senseless to send Lingard on when he is not fully fit and Rashford was struggling, even if Sanchez is the inferior player. Naivety against another 'elite' side evident again. #mufc
— Samuel Luckhurst (@samuelluckhurst) February 24, 2019
Ahead of the match, Solskajer took a not so subtle swipe at his opponent. The Norwegian slammed Liverpool over their title drought and expressed his hopes that his side not end up like them.
Liverpool have yet to win a trophy under Jurgen Klopp and haven’t won a top flight title since 1990, which was before the era of the Premier League in its current iteration. Of course, United have not won a title themselves since 2013, and they are not in the title race this season while the Reds are. Solskjaer pointed these facts out.
“I have loads of Liverpool fans back home [in Norway] and every year is going to be their year,” said Solskjaer, a former United player who knows the rivalry very well.
“It has got to October and it’s: ‘OK, next year.’ Now they are in the race so for them, it is going to be an exciting finish to the league. That is none of our concern. We just have to concentrate on ourselves.”
“Of course they do feel that pressure,” Solskjaer added.
“I think all the supporters do and players probably do as well. But then we have not won it for a few years and so we want to get back to that. We have to make sure that we don’t end up being happy being among the top four. If you aim too low and reach your target, then that’s more dangerous than aiming too high and missing them.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
He also contributes sociopolitical essays to Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.