COLUMBIA, South Carolina — Liverpool handed Manchester United an early warning ahead of the new season with a 3-0 win at Williams-Brice Stadium.
Arne Slot enjoyed a comfortable victory in his first meeting with United as Liverpool manager thanks to goals from Fábio Carvalho, Curtis Jones and KostasTsimikas.
United start their campaign against Manchester City in the Community Shield next week.
And while manager Erik ten Hag will have been pleased with some of the football played in the first half, the Dutchman will be concerned at seeing his team spurn a number of opportunities.
Rasmus Højlund is set to miss the next six weeks with a hamstring injury picked up in the first game of the U.S. tour against Arsenal and without him United couldn’t make the most of their chances.
Jadon Sancho struggled to make an impact as he was deployed as the No.9 for a second game in a row and Ten Hag faces a decision about whether to start new signing Joshua Zirkzee, who is training at Carrington, against City at Wembley.
Ten Hag also has another injury worry after Harry Maguire was left out of the squad as a precaution.
Slot, meanwhile, will be pleased with Mohamed Salah‘s involvement. The Egyptian forward looked sharp on Liverpool’s right side and created the second goal for Jones in front of a sell-out crowd of 77,559 in Columbia — the highest ever attendance for a soccer match in the Carolinas.
Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images
Liverpool went in at half-time 2-0 up thanks to goals from Carvalho and Jones.
United created chances for Mason Mount, Marcus Rashford — fit enough to start after limping off injured against Real Betis — and Sancho, but it was Liverpool who were far more clinical when their opportunities came.
Inside the first 10 minutes, Carvalho collected a pass from Diogo Jota and after jinking past Casemiro in the penalty area, rolled a shot past André Onana and into the far corner.
Liverpool doubled their lead midway through the first half.
Salah got the better of youngster Toby Collyer on the right and crossed for Jones to tap in under pressure from Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
Scott McTominay had a golden chance to pull a goal back after half-time but saw his shot well-saved by half-time substitute Vitezslav Jaros.
And United were made to pay again when Jota’s shot was parried by Onana and Tsimikas held off Wan-Bissaka to score at the far post.
Both teams made a host of changes in the second half and Ethan Wheatley would have got on the scoresheet for United but for another good save from Jaros.
It ensured Liverpool ended their tour with a clean sheet while Ten Hag heads home with questions to ponder.