Roy Keane has unfavourably compared Manchester United to Liverpool in one aspect that he’s implored his fomer team to change.
The northwestern rivals have had rather contrasting seasons so far – whereas Arne Slot’s side are in a commanding position in the Premier League, flying in the Champions League and one win away from retaining the Carabao Cup, the Old Trafford outfit sit 13th domestically having already lost 11 top-flight matches.
Ruben Amorim’s side made it through to the fifth round of the FA Cup on Friday night, although it took a controversial stoppage-time winner from Harry Maguire to see off struggling Leicester at home, and they had been trailing to the Foxes earlier in the game.
Keane laments Man United’s attack
Keane was on punditry duty for ITV for that match, and despite United securing victory, their former captain was far from impressed with what he witnessed, drawing comparions with Liverpool.
The 53-year-old lamented (via Manchester Evening News): “You have to get bodies in the box. You see Liverpool at the moment; Liverpool are getting four, five, six bodies in the box. We’ve seen United a couple of times, balls going in and one or two, the fans are frustrated.
“Towards the end, we’ve seen them in a panic but then they started getting bodies in the box, taking gambles. To play at Man United you’ve gotta gamble. You’ve gotta try and win football matches.”
Liverpool and Man United’s attacking statistics compared
Despite spending approximately €115m (£95.8m) on Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee since the summer of 2023 (Transfermarkt) – not to mention the £81.3m squandered on Antony in 2022 – United’s attack has been remarkably toothless in recent weeks.
Incredibly, the Red Devils have averaged one only shot on target over their last three Premier League matches and somehow beat Fulham despite taking just four shots in the entire game (FBref), paltry returns considering the investment they’ve made.
Compare that to Liverpool’s last eight matches, with four-goal hauls in three of those, and only one game in which they failed to score more than once. In that time, there’s been just one match in the Reds had fewer than six shots on target (four against PSV Eindhoven), with 10 on goal in the 4-0 romp over Tottenham on Thursday night (FBref).
We can see why Keane might feel jealous of LFC when watching his former club struggle to make headway in the final third, and how he must wish that Amorim could call upon the likes of Mo Salah, Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz, who’ve already struck 54 goals between them in all competitions this season.
