Paul Scholes has expressed one ‘big worry’ he has about Manchester United ahead of their clash against Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday.
While the Reds sit proudly at the top of the Premier League table, Erik ten Hag’s side have suffered two home defeats in the last five days and crashed out of Europe altogether on Tuesday night after losing to Bayern Munich, rounding off a torrid Champions League group campaign.
The former Old Trafford midfielder was on punditry duty with TNT Sports for that game, and speaking ahead of the weekend’s showdown on Merseyside, he voiced his fears about the toothlessness of the Red Devils’ attack.
Scholes stated (via Liverpool Echo): “The big worry for me has got to be the centre-forward. We can’t create a chance.
“[Rasmus Hojlund has] scored five goals in the Champions League but he’s not scored a league goal. He hasn’t had a chance tonight, I don’t think he had a chance on Saturday. It’s a big concern where goals are going to come from.
“You expect creativity from your wide players, Antony and [Alejandro] Garnacho, but they’re quite selfish players. They’re players who are looking up and thinking about scoring their own goals. From last year, they’ve not got [Marcus] Rashford, who was flying last year and not been that type of form this year.”
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Liverpool fans will certainly be hoping that United’s profligate nature – in the Premier League, at least – continues at Anfield on Sunday.
As per FBref, the Red Devils have taken the fifth-most shots in the top flight this season (240) but have the third-worst shots on target return (28.8%), while only Sheffield United have a worse record for goals per shot (0.07).
Despite averaging two goals per game in the Champions League, Ten Hag’s side have managed only 18 in 16 Premier League matches, with Fulham scoring just two goals fewer over their last four games than the Manchester outfit have managed throughout the campaign thus far.
Liverpool can also take heart from boasting the English top flight’s joint-best defensive record, being breached only 15 times (as many as United shipped in their calamitous six-match European run). Also, the Red Devils’ last eight visits to Anfield in all competitions have seen them score just once (Jesse Lingard in a 3-1 defeat in December 2018).
There’s plenty to suggest that, if the Reds are solid at the back and don’t gift their arch-rivals some early Christmas presents, and if Mo Salah and his fellow forwards play to their lethal best, they could well maintain their 100% home record this season and compound the misery for Ten Hag and co.
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