EPL 2018-19: Injury-ridden match sees Manchester United-Liverpool share points
Manchester United hosted Liverpool tonight in their return fixture of the English Premier League. An injury-ridden match saw the two rivals share points after the ninety minutes. Liverpool have thus overtaken Manchester City and are back on the top of the league table. They now have 66 points from 27 matches. Here is our detailed match report.
Four substitutions were made in the first half
In the first half itself, Manchester United saw two injuries, with Ander Herrera and Juan Mata being called off and replaced by Perreira and Lingard respectively. Liverpool's Roberto Firmino suffered an ankle injury and limped off, with Daniel Sturridge replacing him. Lingard, still suffering from his hamstring issues, again suffered an injury and was replaced by Alexis Sanchez.
Liverpool did not manage the league double against United
Liverpool had earlier defeated United 3-1 in the league, and if they managed to get a win today, it would have been their first league double against United since 2013-14. Despite United losing important players in the first half and having had to change the formation they set out with, they managed to keep Liverpool at bay and produced the match's best scoring opportunity.
Some interesting stats from the match
The match saw David de Gea registering his 100th EPL clean-sheet, being the seventh goalie in PL history to do so, and United's second after Peter Schmeichel. Old Trafford saw four substitutions tonight in the first half, equaling a Wigan vs Fulham match in 2009. This was also the first time since 1996 when United hosted Liverpool with the Merseysiders placed second or first.
