Roy Keane rips into ‘sloppy’ Liverpool as they slump to defeat against Manchester United

Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford fired Manchester United to a memorable first win under Erik ten Hag as bitter rivals Liverpool were beaten 2-1 on a night of protests against the Glazer family.

The eyes of the footballing world were focused on a rocking Old Trafford as these old foes went toe-to-toe in search of their first Premier League wins of the season.

The win for United ensured Liverpool have failed to win their first three games to a Premier League season for the first time since the 2012/13 season under Brendan Rodger.

It was the manner of Liverpool’s performance was a point of concern for former United skipper Roy Keane, who suggested Reds boss Jurgen Klopp will be worried about the form of his defensive talisman Van Dijk after a shaky performance against Fulham earlier this month was backed up by this uncertain display against United.

"Defensively they have been very, very causal,” said Keane. “Going back to the Fulham game, he was sloppy and the same tonight.

"We are not hammering them here. They have set such high standards and they’ve let it slip.

"You can’t afford that sloppy defending and Van Dijk, he has been really off it.”

Keane’s fellow Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher suggested Liverpool are in danger of losing touch with the teams at the top of the table after their slow start to the season.

"Liverpool are a million miles off Manchester City right now. They have to fix it quick,” said Carragher.

"Even at this stage, the points gap feels big, with the quality of Man City. You just don't expect a really poor start from this Liverpool team - they set such high standards but they're a million miles from them.”

Liverpool full-back Andy Roberston was honest in his assessment of Liverpool’s performance, as he suggested they need to improve quickly.

"We give every team a goal start which is the base of the game, we can't give ourselves an uphill battle,” he said. “That is what needs to change, we can't keep going behind. In the warm up it was the quietest I have heard this stadium and they wanted something to lift them and we gave them it.

"Two points from nine is not the start we wanted. We need to pick up our performances individually and collectively. We can't keep this going on out there, it is easy to talk about it in the changing room but we have to go out and do it. We can't keep conceding goals. They started better than us today. It needs to change."