Erik ten Hag can give Manchester United what they have not achieved at Liverpool in seven years

Manchester United supporters feared another shellacking when rivals Liverpool made the visit to Old Trafford earlier this season.

After the worst year at the club for decades, any optimism for the new campaign with Erik ten Hag in charge quickly disappeared following defeats against Brighton and Brentford, which suggested a defeat against Liverpool was inevitable.

Liverpool won 9-0 on aggregate across both meetings against United last season and they signed Darwin Nunez in the summer, a player who moved to Anfield partly because key figures in Manchester were reluctant to be drawn into a bidding war.

ALSO READ: Erik ten Hag gives his verdict chances of quadruple

Jurgen Klopp's side had finished second in the Premier League, they had been superior on the pitch and Nunez had been added to their ranks from Benfica, to make matters worse, so it was hard to blame United supporters for lacking hope.

Around 10,000 fans marched against the Glazers from the Tollgate pub ahead of kick-off that evening in August and the tangible anger directed against the Glazers felt exacerbated by a feeling of inevitability about how the match would develop.

Manchester United should never fear Liverpool on home soil but the majority of fans would have taken a draw before kick-off and yet, the players delivered an outstanding performance to record an unlikely 2-1 victory at Old Trafford.

Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford got on the scoresheet and their goals were enough to ensure three points. A beaming Ten Hag punched the air at the full-time whistle and that result was the catalyst for a change of fortunes.

United defeated Southampton, Leicester and Arsenal after that win and, although they suffered a heavy loss in the Manchester derby at