It was another dismal Liverpool performance against Manchester United.

What would be expected on the back of three straight defeats following the international break at Anfield is a performance to be proud of. Instead, fans were treated to a 2-1 defeat to their biggest rivals.

The team was left unchanged from their defeat to Chelsea before the break, and it showed in the level of performance of the starting XI, who were caught out early by Bryan Mbeumo, as the Cameroonian was able to take advantage of a Virgil van Dijk misstep.

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However, it was not all doom and gloom, as there were a few players who came off the bench to add more spark to a team that was lacking the fire to go on and win the game.

Florian Wirtz sent Arne Slot a clear message with his performance, showing that he should have started, but it was Hugo Ekitike who caught the eye of the Liverpool boss for his cameo appearance.

Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images

The Frenchman was left on the bench in favour of his £125 million counterpart, Alexander Isak, who did put on his best display all things considered.

It...