That's why Ruben Amorim needed to arrive six months ago! Winners & losers as Man Utd manager shows value of preparation with deserved Anfield draw to keep lacklustre Liverpool from running away with Premier League title race

Amorim was in serious danger of becoming the first United manager since Dave Sexton in 1979 to preside over four league defeats in a row, but he demonstrated he does know what he's doing and that he can make something of this team if given the right support and amount of time.

The coach sent a message to his players before the game as he declared the squad was "starving for leaders" and put the onus on them to show some character. They did just that. The coach, however, also deserves credit for his gameplan. His side prevented Liverpool from playing to their strengths by disrupting them in midfield and they counter-attacked in numbers rather than flying forward in isolation.

The performance was another demonstration that the coach can hold his own against a top side after beating Manchester City with both Sporting CP and United already this season. The real test will come next week at Arsenal after another clear week on the training ground to "sell his idea" to his players.

Trent Alexander-Arnold has been dominating the headlines amid reports that Real Madrid want to sign him now after making a £20 million bid this week, and it looked as if the Spanish giants' interest in him had gone to his head as he was all over the place on Sunday. Alexander-Arnold has never been the best defender, but he couldn't even do the basics right as United ran amok down his right-hand side, fashioning two key chances in the first half.

He also had an absolute horror show when United took the lead, gifting the ball to Lisandro Martinez in the first place, failing to pressure Bruno Fernandes and then losing track of the Argentine before he smashed in off the bar. Alexander-Arnold offered very little in attack either as he barely troubled Martinez or Diogo Dalot. But his defending was the main concern, and Madrid's top brass would have been understandably concerned while they were watching from the Spanish capital.

"There’s talk about him going to Real Madrid, but the way he’s defending he’ll be going to Tranmere Rovers after this," said Roy Keane in a typically cutting but not unfair assessment of Alexander-Arnold's performance on Sky Sports. "We talk about how brilliant Trent is going forward, but Trent’s defending today, my goodness... It’s like schoolboy stuff. "

Martinez, AKA 'The Butcher', had been serving up hugely disappointing cuts of late, but he sharpened his knives for the biggest game of all and delivered a complete performance. The World Cup-winning Argentine appeared to be one of the players Amorim was referring to when he urged senior players to step up and show more leadership, but this was the type of performance United fans wanted to see and which they grew accustomed to seeing in his brilliant debut campaign.

Martinez showed steel and aggression in defence to shut Liverpool down in his area while he also played on the front foot, unleashing attacks with his passes from deep and pushing up into the final third. His goal encapsulated everything fans love about him: hunger to win the ball back, intelligent movement in possession and then an unstoppable finish, topped off with a furiously passionate celebration.

The defender then took responsibility for the team's recent woeful results but vowed that performances like the one at Anfield had to become the norm. He said: "If you saw the last few games, it was poor. It's true and we accept that. Today we played really well and we have to believe. Football really is mental. We changed our mindset. The belief, the confidence and I saw everyone secure today. With confidence in every duel, with the pass, defending."

While Martinez had one of his best games in a United shirt, his two defensive partners, De Ligt and Maguire, would have left the game feeling glum, albeit for very different reasons.

De Ligt was the weak link in the back-three and made two judgement calls which were pivotal to both of Liverpool's goals. His first mistake was to dive in on Cody Gakpo, which allowed for his international team-mate to dribble across the box and open up a far better shooting angle than if he had been shown outside. The forward still deserves credit for his trickery and his wonderful strike, but De Ligt had made things much easier for him. The defender also showed a lack of focus when he threw his hand into the air as he tried to challenge Mac Allister, giving the VAR team little choice but to advise referee Michael Oliver to review the play and award a penalty. De Ligt thus looked furious with himself when he left the pitch to be replaced by Leny Yoro.

So too did Maguire, who had been excellent throughout the game but then bungled a glorious chance to give United their first win at Anfield in nine years. Sky Sports pundit Daniel Sturridge criticised Joshua Zirkzee's quality of ball, but Keane was right to declare that Maguire should have buried the chance rather than spoon it over the bar.

Newcastle chewed United's midfield up and spat it out last week, but with a change in personnel the Red Devils managed to win the battle in the middle against the best side in the Premier League, if not Europe. Manuel Ugarte was always on hand to put out fires, sometimes resorting to cynical challenges, while Kobbie Mainoo intervened when necessary to retrieve possession and helped United keep hold of the ball for long periods so that Liverpool never got comfortable.

Amorim's system relies on two energetic holding midfielders, so it was perhaps unsurprising that Casemiro and Christian Eriksen had looked so out of their depths the previous week at Old Trafford, when Ugarte was suspended and Mainoo started on the bench before being hurriedly brought on after 33 minutes.

Eriksen and Casemiro are both aged 32 and it has shown whenever they have played of late. But United's starting central midfielders at Anfield had an average age of 21 and had the stamina, as well as the hunger, to properly compete. Ugarte and Mainoo look comfortably like being Amorim's best pairing, and if they can stay fit and miss as few games as possible through suspension, then the coach might actually be able to construct a proper team.

Arsenal must have thought their already fading title bid was well and truly over after their frustrating draw at Brighton on Saturday, but the result at Anfield means Mikel Arteta's side's race is not yet run. Not only did United manage to slow down Liverpool's march towards the Premier League crown, they also highlighted some vulnerabilities among Arne Slot's side which other teams can exploit in the second half of the season.

Slot has given the Reds much more control than they had under Jurgen Klopp, but here his side looked susceptible to counter-attacks, particularly as the game wore on. They are also conceding more goals than the coach would surely like. This was the fourth league game in six in which Liverpool have let in two goals or more, with Amad's strike being the 11th goal scored against them in those six matches.

"The big worry for me now is Liverpool are starting to concede goals," said Jamie Carragher on Sky Sports. "Liverpool are the best team in this league and have a lot more goals and attacking talent than Arsenal. But watching that game, the thing that will give you a lift is that you saw Liverpool concede goals and chances."