Man Utd's wasted season gets worse

They came in numbers and they sang. They always do. Manchester United's away support might be the best in the country even when they know that their team is not. On Tuesday at Anfield, that last point was hammered home by Liverpool.

United could not even keep it level for five minutes. At least they restricted Jurgen Klopp's side to four goals this time, one better than the five-goal rout at Old Trafford in October. There was brief resistance early in the second half but that was too little too late.

It is tempting to say that the supporters had travelled in hope rather than expectation but how much hope was there? Without Cristiano Ronaldo and his ability to conjure something from nothing, it required an awful lot of faith with very little reason.

Klopp had talked it up as a meeting between the two biggest teams in England and it had that big-game feel right up until kick-off when the reality became clear. Liverpool were playing at a pace that United could not comprehend let alone cope with.

Their trajectory feels so different as they chase an unprecedented quadruple that would not only leave their rivals in the shade but eclipse the outstanding achievement in Manchester United's history. How can the gulf between the two be this great?

Thiago Alcantara was a class above most on this pitch but nobody in a United shirt came close. Luis Diaz, the latest find, was full of urgency from the outset. In contrast, Marcus Rashford was eased off the ball by Virgil van Dijk early on and hardly saw it again.

Alisson summed up the contrasting confidence levels with a Cruyff turn. Moments later, David de Gea hesitated when the Brazilian would surely have come out to clear. That led to the opening goal and Ralf Rangnick's plan to