Erik ten Hag explains why he is confident Manchester United's thrashing by Liverpool was a one-off

Erik ten Hag is confident Manchester United's 7-0 thrashing by Liverpool was an aberration as they prepare to resume their Europa League campaign against Real Betis.

United were walloped 7-0 for the first time since Boxing Day in 1931 at Anfield, where Liverpool inflicted United's worst defeat in the Premier League era. Liverpool have beaten United 7-0, 4-0 and 5-0 in three of their last four meetings.

Ten Hag has already suffered 4-0, 6-3 and 7-0 defeats as United manager but he elicited impressive reactions to the defeats at Brentford in August and Manchester City in October.

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United host Betis in the first leg of their round-of-16 tie on Thursday and end the month with the FA Cup quarter-final visit of Fulham. In a season that United have already won the League Cup, they are third in the Premier League and well-placed to achieve their target of Champions League qualification.

"If it was more often of course, then it is a pattern," Ten Hag said of the embarrassment at Anfield. "But we had so many good results in the last weeks and months, so many good performances and this was a really bad performance.

"And then I talk about the second half because the first half, I think this team, our team, played really well, played really decent.

"I have had some, the bad days, but also there are days where if you do the right things, if you react with the right matches, as a manager and as a team, you can learn a lot from it and you can strengthen your mentality."

Ten Hag refused to specifically scapegoat any players when asked to elaborate on a heated exchange he had with Antony after Liverpool went 4-0 up: "I had many talks with many