Slot's tactical masterclass that forced Man Utd key man to play wrong position

ARNE SLOT earned Liverpool an imperious win on his first visit to Old Trafford - with one tactic making a key impact.

Manchester United errors gifted Liverpool three goals but the Red Devils were second best all over the park.

Liverpool took a two-goal half-time lead as Luiz Diaz scored twice from inside the penalty area.

Casemiro misplaced a pass for the first goal and was then dispossessed for the second.

The Brazilian has been a constant weak point for Man Utd in the past 12 months, but he was far from the only underperforming star for the Red Devils as they went down to a 3-0 loss.

Kobbie Mainoo was caught on the ball for the third Liverpool goal while Lisandro Martinez also failed to impress.

But stats show that Liverpool's win may have been, more than anything, down to Slot keeping one of United's biggest stars quiet - Alejandro Garnacho.

The young winger has been one of United's best players in the last year and even when the team is not playing well he has produced moments of magic.

But against Slot's Liverpool, nothing came off for Garnacho - he was dispossessed on several occasions and completed just 16 passes.

Liverpool's tactics meant Garnacho rarely received the ball in the attacking final third and he constantly had to drop deep to receive possession.

That meant his average position was at right-back rather than on the wing, with the Argentine making just three touches in the Liverpool box.

Remarkably, of his 16 completed passes just four were forward, with one coming in his own penalty area.

As a result, he had very little impact on the United attack with most of his afternoon's work coming in a defensive capacity.

Slot gave the dangerous Luis Diaz the freedom to push forward, meaning Garnacho was often called on to support his full-back Noussair Mazraoui.

And the Argentine's ineffectiveness would ultimately lead to boss Ten Hag hooking him off for Amad Diallo.

But the decision was far from a popular one with a number of fans at Old Trafford booing the substitution.

Some fans even went as far as to say Ten Hag was "sacking himself" with such a "nonsense" call.

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