Steve McManaman has pinpointed what went wrong for Liverpool in their goalless draw with Manchester United on Sunday.

Despite everyone and their dog predicted a comfortable home win at Anfield, the Reds were unable to break down a strong United defense.

Jurgen Klopp’s players were careless in the offensive third, with Darwin Nunez and Dominik Szoboszlai in particular suffering.

When asked what he thinks went wrong for his former club, ex-Liverpool winger McManaman said their “intensity levels were good” but they lacked a cutting edge in the final third.

“I think it was their creativity in the final third,” he said, according to Betfred.

“Their intensity levels were good, and their pressing was excellent, but I don’t think they had any standout chances.”

“They were battering down the middle a lot, but not getting much down either wing, and Mo Salah and Luis Daz were both looking to cut inside at every opportunity.”

“Sometimes when things aren’t working for you and you’re not having much success, you need to change things up a little bit, and they didn’t really do that.”

“I thought Manchester United’s defenders performed admirably.” They appear to be robust and well-defended, and they deserve credit for that.

“Liverpool had all of the possession, but after Manchester United’s week and all of the criticism they faced, coming to Anfield and getting a clean sheet and a point is very good.”

“Jonny Evans and Raphael Varane, two players who have come in for a bit of criticism, alongside Diogo Dalot and Luke Shaw were outstanding defensively.”

As previously said, Liverpool were expected to dominate their archrivals.

McManaman is not sure that this has harmed the Reds ahead of their Premier League meeting.

“No, I don’t think so,” he answered when asked if the Reds’ performance was influenced by expectations. “I don’t think any Liverpool players expected to go into the game and batter Manchester United.”

“They would have known what Manchester United were going to do, and I personally always thought it was going to be a close game, with United coming to Anfield looking for a 0-0.”

“I did believe Liverpool would win the game, but I didn’t expect them to win 4-0 or 5-0.” I knew it was going to be a low-key affair.

“I never expected Manchester United to attack Liverpool, but I knew they’d come to sit, defend, and try to leave Anfield with a result.”

“Considering their injury issues, they were always going to do that.” They weren’t going to come and try to outgun Liverpool, especially with the starting eleven that they had.”