'It defies logic!' - Gary Neville fumes at what two Man United players did vs Liverpool

Gary Neville has slammed Manchester United's midfield trio against Liverpool by describing some of their actions as "defining logic". The Reds were second-best against their fierce rivals in the first half at Old Trafford and were fortunate to be only 1-0 down.

Luis Diaz put Jurgen Klopp's men ahead in the first half after a well-worked corner saw Darwin Nunez direct the ball to the back post. The statistics of the first 45 minutes on Sunday pointed towards a difficult afternoon for Erik ten Hag's men against the title chasers.

United had only 42% possession, failing to produce a single shot - compared to Liverpool's 15. The away side were unlucky not to add breathing room between themselves and United with Dominik Szoboszlai and Darwin Nunez coming close.

READ MORE: United vs Liverpool LIVE updates

READ MORE: Erik ten Hag explains why Marcus Rashford starts for Manchester United vs Liverpool

One of the Reds' biggest problems came in midfield. Kobbie Mainoo, Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro all struggled to get onto the ball and also failed to stop Liverpool from breaking the lines.

And Neville identified the issue in a rant during his commentary on Sky Sports. "Look where Mainoo is there, he’s ahead of the ball on a throw-in," he said. "For a central midfield player I always think - and Bruno Fernandes, he had to run back.

"Forget about that [man-marking system], forget about Mac Allister, don’t be ahead of the ball. You can always get up to that one. He’s moving up there now, it defies logic and it’s the basics of the game.

"Even now he’s chasing across the pitch, he doesn’t need to. Garnacho and Hojlund can deal with that. Look at the space behind him - that space alongside Casemiro there. Mac Allister’s run into