Former Liverpool striker Neil Mellor has explained that he was surprised to see Manchester United “spoil the game” against the Reds at the weekend.
The Red Devils played out a goalless draw at Anfield last Saturday, with Liverpool being the more dominant team in the contest.
While the Merseyside giants showed urgency and created chances, Jose Mourinho’s men were content to sit back and play for a draw.
Manchester United, who spent heavily in the summer to bring in the likes of Romelu Lukaku and Nemanja Matic, were successful in their attempt as they managed to frustrate Liverpool and return home with a point.
But Mellor said that he was surprised to see Manchester United play so defensively at Anfield, especially as they headed into the game on the back of a good run of form.
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“Well we say that, but Manchester United are a completely different side to last season”, he said on LFC TV, when asked if he shouldn’t be too surprised with the result, given Manchester United and Liverpool played out two draws in the league last season.
“They have the same manager, but the difference is they spent big in the summer, they identified the areas they needed to improve and they spent a lot of money to do so.
“They brought in Matic, they brought in Lukaku and they spent a lot of money doing that.
“And to come in and perform the way they did, which was in a fashion that spoilt the game, was a little bit surprising, because they came into the game having won six of their previous seven games.
“Their confidence was high, but the performance was well below what we have seen from Manchester United so far this season.”
Liverpool, who are yet to win in the group stage of the Champions League this season, are next up against Slovenian outfit Maribor tonight.
