Beefy Bites: Manchester United expose Liverpool and Leeds United falter
Southampton, Burton Albion and Dundee United also lost this weekend
The Premier League’s headline act was in doubt until Sunday lunchtime. The winter weather knocked out a handful of matches in the EFL and non-league but the top flight remained intact and served up a doozy. Eventually.
Liverpool were clear favourites against Manchester United but dropped points in the freezing rain of Anfield. The game took its time getting going but the second half was worth the wait. Enmity is the lifeblood of football and we all know it.
Elsewhere, Southampton continued to embarrass themselves, Leeds United threw two points into the Humber, Burton Albion struggled on and Dundee United stumbled at home.
Manchester United expose Liverpool weaknesses
There won’t be many people who tuned in for Liverpool v Manchester United on Sunday who weren’t hoping for high comedy and expecting the home team to leave the Red Devils cowering in a quiet corner of Anfield.
In the end it wasn’t all that funny. Modern United seem especially suited to underdog status in away games against their rivals. What that says about them, I’m not quite sure. But the first half was pretty close to a textbook away performance against a runaway league leader, albeit without the goal they needed to give themselves something to protect.
They got it six minutes into the second half when Lisandro Martinez smacked the ball in off the crossbar to put United ahead. Liverpool didn’t have to wait long for Cody Gakpo’s spectacular equaliser and Matthias de Ligt’s handball resulted in a penalty. Mo Salah found the bottom corner to make it 2-1.
Amad Diallo’s scruffy equaliser ten minutes from time broke Gary Neville’s microphone on the gantry and, save for Harry Maguire’s shinner over the bar with the last kick, that was that. Liverpool's feted full backs bore the brunt of the fallout.
Southampton are going down and they might not be back
On Saturday morning, only two Premier League teams were without an away win. By Saturday evening, one had thrashed the other to pick up all three points on the road for the first time. Brentford won 5-0 at a rapidly emptying St Mary's Stadium and could have scored more. Southampton are atrocious and everything about it looks terminal.
Brentford racked up an expected goals value (xG) of 4.46 to Southampton’s 0.29 and had eleven shots on target – each a big chance as measured by Fotmob, remarkably – to Saints’ one.
It was a reflection of the season. Southampton have the league’s highest expected goals against (xGA) by far and nobody has conceded more goals. Southampton’s own xG is in the bottom five and they’re under-performing it by more than everyone but Bournemouth.
That’s just a snapshot. There are various ways to slice up the data and they all point to the simple and obvious truth that Southampton are awful. Russell Martin’s tactical stubbornness was widely criticised by supporters before he was sacked but he wasn’t the half of Southampton’s recruitment problem.
Leeds trip themselves up
Championship leaders Leeds United had their lead cut to a single point on Saturday. Burnley and Sheffield United both won to close the gap but it was Leeds’ own late collapse at Hull City that really did the damage.
The Tigers turned 1-3 into 3-3 inside the last ten minutes thanks to goals from João Pedro and Abu Kamara.
Kamara’s gorgeous early goal had given Hull a lead at half time but the visitors stormed back in the second half. Ao Tanaka equalised with a superb strike from the edge of the box before Dan James scored from close range to put Leeds in front. Joël Piroe’s daisycutter in the 72nd minute gave them a cushion they subsequently squandered.
Pedro pulled a goal back with ten minutes left, following in after an uncharacteristic mistake from Illan Meslier. Kamara scored a dramatic late equaliser with a fabulous volley two minutes from time to tighten up the top three and leave Daniel Farke’s men looking nervously over their shoulders.
Burton can't buy a win
League One’s last-placed club, Burton Albion, have won just twice in their 24 league games this season but went into Saturday’s home game against Northampton Town having gone two games without defeat for the first time since mid-September.
Mark Robinson’s Brewers looked set to play out a third consecutive draw and would have been frustrated with it. They had slightly more of the ball than the Cobblers as well as more shots and a marginally higher xG, and they certainly had their chances. Defeat by way of a horribly deflected Sam Hoskins shot five minutes from time was a bitter blow.
The rest of the division’s bottom four lost too but Burton have won only half as many games as both Shrewsbury Town and Cambridge United. They’re eleven points short of safety and three points adrift of 23rd. If too many draws is part of the problem for Robinson must solve, holding onto them when required is also necessary.
Dundee United’s surge ended by Hearts
Dundee United kicked off the final match of a packed Sunday in the Scottish Premiership in third place. Just one defeat in ten games took them past Aberdeen – above, only Glasgow. Their run of three wins on the spin was ended by a home defeat against Heart of Midlothian, whose own form has eased under Neil Critchley.
United’s Wrexham loanee Sam Dalby is the league’s top scorer and both teams have found their shooting boots, but one goal settled it at Tannadice yesterday. James Penrice lashed in a brilliant volley to win it for Hearts, whose xG was 0.93 but still more than twice as high as that of the hosts. United had one shot on target, four fewer than Hearts.
Jim Goodwin was circumspect after the game. Aberdeen’s loss means United stay in third. Hearts remain second from bottom but are now eight points clear of St Johnstone and only four points off St Mirren, the back-markers in the top half of the table.
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