Don’t be fooled, lightweight Manchester United are no longer on Liverpool’s level

Do not be sucked in by a tense second half and even tenser final stages. Do not let the comfortable if not emphatic margin of victory fool you. Do not think that, even before Mohamed Salah’s late second, Manchester United were close to leaving Anfield with a result.

Even if Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had by hook or by crook stretched his unbeaten record against Jurgen Klopp to three games, as seemed possible during those increasingly frantic set of late attacks, that would not have masked the gulf in quality between the champions-elect and a side that is somehow still as high as fifth.

Solskjaer has insisted on several occasions this season that Manchester City are still the best team in the country, despite the gap at the top of the Premier League table providing strong evidence to the contrary. Perhaps, after this first trip to Anfield as a manager, he can appreciate the bar that Liverpool have set.

United may have been in this game until its final kick but there were times, particularly in the first half, where this threatened to be as comprehensive a victory as Liverpool have enjoyed over their historic rivals in years.

There were shades, too, of the recent Manchester derby at Old Trafford, when United somehow avoided a mauling. That mauling did not come today, either, but it is beginning to feel overdue. It may even be necessary, in order to fully demonstrate how much distance United have to travel before they can expect to win these sorts of matches.

Marcus Rashford’s absence did not help Solskjaer and in many ways coloured this game. Despite the United manager claiming his top scorer would be out for “weeks” before kick-off, it is understood that Rashford’s lay-off is more likely to last months. United have paid a substantial price for the chance of a FA Cup fourth-round trip to Prenton Park.

No Rashford meant that one of Solskjaer’s two split centre-forwards would be a player that has not scored a goal in any competition since August. Daniel James or his strike partner Anthony Martial took up promising positions in the space vacated by Liverpool’s full-backs but took no advantage, wasting several promising breakaways.

There were poor individual displays across the pitch. Even Aaron Wan-Bissaka, probably the best of United’s summer business and brilliant a month ago in the win at the Etihad, was left with his head spinning. Liverpool’s speed of movement was too much for the young full-back to cope with. This was his most difficult day in a United shirt.

Solskjaer’s persistence with Andreas Pereira continues to baffle. There was a moment towards the end of the first half when, after being allowed to advance into the penalty area by a retreating Liverpool defence, he turned back and tripped over James. Both fell to the turf. A promising attack was snuffed out. It was United’s performance in microcosm.

But this was a collective failure rather than down to any one individual. There are glimpses of something every now and again - an idea to be worked at, a particular skill to be developed - but too often you are left asking how these players came to represent one of the world’s biggest clubs, deserving of a place on the Premier League’s biggest wage bill.

Salah’s goal meant the scoreline better reflected the balance of play but really, Liverpool should have won by more. A two-goal defeat masks just how one-dimensional United were in attack, how ramshackle they were in defence, how lightweight they were in midfield.

A real thrashing is coming at some point. It may even be necessary in order to fully demonstrate how far United have to travel before they can hope to compete on Liverpool’s level again.