The teams made some changes to their lineups, with Manchester United dropping Leny Yoro in favor of Harry Maguire, while Liverpool remained unchanged from their previous match. The match began with a calamitous start for Liverpool, as Bryan Mbeumo scored the opening goal for Manchester United just 62 seconds into the game.

This was the earliest goal in the fixture since October 1995 and the fastest in the 2025/26 Premier League season. The hosts struggled to respond to the shock of going behind, and Manchester United remained vulnerable to the counter-attack. The visitors had three shots on target in the first half hour, the first time they had done so in the opening 30 minutes since April 2024 against Crystal Palace.

Despite Liverpool having over 65% possession in the first half hour, Manchester United were the more dangerous team. The front three of Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo, and Mason Mount looked more likely to score than Liverpool's attack. Manchester United went into the break ahead, the first time they had been up at halftime in the fixture since 2014/15 under Louis van Gaal.

Interestingly, Manchester United had never lost at Anfield in the Premier League era when they were leading after the opening 45 minutes. They were also unbeaten in their last 10 EPL games (W9, D1) when in front at HT, giving the visitors something to hold onto.

Giorgi Mamardashvili became the first Liverpool player to make his Anfield debut in a Premier League game against Manchester United since Thiago Alcantara in January 2021. Bruno Fernandes started his 100th Premier League away match at Anfield, a ground he had yet to win at in the English top flight.

A late flurry of substitutions from both sides seemed to re-energize the hosts, and Liverpool finally scored with 13 minutes left, with Cody Gakpo getting a well-deserved equalizer. However, Manchester United kept plugging away, and after two further shots at goal, failure to clear a corner saw Harry Maguire head his side back into the lead.

The goal capped a wonderful all-round performance from Maguire, who had been in amongst it for most of the game, taking part in 10 one-on-one duels and nine more aerially. A fifth goal conceded in the final 15 minutes of the game won't have pleased Liverpool's manager, Arne Slot, not to mention that it was also the eighth time in the last 12 Premier League matches that Liverpool had conceded 2+ goals.

Mo Salah was subbed off soon after, having gone seven consecutive Premier League matches without scoring a non-penalty goal for the first time in his Liverpool career. Try as they might, Liverpool were unable to find the goal to give them at least a point, and a fourth defeat in a row in all competitions was a reality.

Senne Lammens ended the game having saved five of the six shots he faced and having had the most touches of any United player - 55, jointly with Cunha - denoting what a big part he'd had to play in proceedings, and surely cementing his place in the starting lineup for some time to come.

Of little consolation to Liverpool will be the knowledge that they'd scored in their last 42 games in the Premier League, which is their longest run of games with a goal in the competition.