This equals the fourth-best unbeaten run in the history of the competition (Deportivo de La Coruna - 22 matches in 1994). Out of 30 previous meetings, Manchester United have won 14 matches while Liverpool won 10.
This is also first time that Barcelona are trailing Real Madrid (who have 16 points, and are on top of the table) by 8 or more points at any point in the season since the final match week of the 2011-12 season. Liverpool are only the second side in PL history to concede the first goal in three consecutive home matches but still win all three, after Blackburn Rovers in November 2009.
The big boys all won, although with differing degrees of comfort. Manchester City eased past Sheffield United 1-0, Chelsea swatted away Burnley 3-0 and Liverpool came from behind to break down West Ham 2-1.
Manchester United won 24 matches.
Liverpool clearly have more quality in attack but what’s more impressive is how Salah, Mane and Firmino work for the team.
A lot has been said about whether Man United are good enough in that area, while Liverpool will probably be without star centre-back Virgil van Dijk for the rest of the season. Diogo Jota is just the second player to score in all of his first three PL appearances for Liverpool at home, after Luis Garcia in October 2004. Timo Werner scores for fun, doesn't he? AC Monza have won a Serie B match for the first time in 7083 days (3-1 v Pistoiese in June 2001)! More seconds at Anfield.
The last time they failed to achieve that was in 1972/73, a season that saw them finish 18th. Lionel Messi has now had 45 direct free kick shots in the last 41 games in all competitions for Barcelona and scored just once (vs. Osasuna in July 2020). And FBref’s more in-depth stats clearly demonstrate Liverpool to be superior in every attacking department, most notably possessing more than double expected goals per 90 minutes than the Red Devils in 2020/21. While Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea all registered wins in the Premier League, Real Madrid and crosstown rivals Atletico Madrid both got comfortable wins in La Liga. The club with the most Serie B seasons (39) without ever once making a Serie A appearance are now 10th in the second division after five games. Liverpool won 19 direct matches. Man United’s PL attacking stats compared with leaders Liverpool In defence is where it gets interesting though. But it’s the tackles in defensive and attacking thirds as well as the pressures in defensive and attacking third stats which reveal why there’s such a difference between the two sides.
This is the first time ever that Messi has failed to score an open-play goal in his first 8 games of a season with Barcelona (playing his 17th season for the club). But more worryingly for United, they’re still waiting for a first top-flight win at home this season having not picked up three points in any of their four clashes yet. Of course, this season, Barca have played one less game than Madrid. Manchester United’s front line is still finding its feet in its bid to become a formidable strike force and they’ve not been helped by the fact Anthony Martial got a three-match ban for raising his hands at Erik Lamela last month. 9 matches ended in a draw. Comparing Man United with Liverpool has inadvertently worked quite well as both sides suffered humiliating defeats on the same day, as United lost 6-1 at home to Tottenham, while the champions were hit for seven by Aston Villa. At Monza, it's not just the Formula 1 that they're celebrating this weekend.
Manchester United is in poor home form while Liverpool are performing average at away. Oh, and 10-man Alaves put on a show to keep Barcelona at bay, with the game ending 1-1. talkSPORT.com has taken a look at the more in-depth stats of FBref to see where it’s all gone wrong for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer so far this term. If you were to take just this season, their tally of 15 goals conceded is still the worst in the league! Barcelona, in 12th now, have its fewest points (8) after its opening 6 matches in La Liga since 2002-03 (also 8). View below the full statistics and data for the Liverpool vs Manchester United Head-to-Head comparison. Another packed Saturday night of football action and more records and statistics to pore over. Then, Barca finished in 6th place, under Louis Van Gaal first and Radomir Antic after. To a man, United’s defence are similar to that of Liverpool’s but they look worse because they’re significantly more busy defending than their rivals.