FA Cup: 3 Reasons Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool Deserved to Lose Quarter Final Game Against Man United

FA Cup: 3 Reasons Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool Deserved to Lose Quarter Final Game Against Man United

Byron Pillay
updated at March 18, 2024 at 6:23 AM
In this article:
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  • Liverpool were dumped out of the FA Cup after they were beaten by Manchester United
  • Jurgen Klopp's team were on a quest for four trophies but were beaten 4-2 in the FA Cup
  • Liverpool were wasteful in attack and deserved to lose to United in the quarter-final clash

Liverpool’s quest for a quadruple is officially over.

The Reds were beaten 4-3 by Manchester United in an end-to-end encounter at Old Trafford.

Jurgen Klopp's quest for a fourth trophy this season were derailed at the hands of Manchester United.
Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool were beaten by Manchester United and Sports Brief looks at why they deserved to lose. Image: Michael Regan.
Source: Getty Images

With Erik Ten Hag’s men moving on to the semi-final against Coventry City and Liverpool missing out on another trip to Wembley, Sports Brief looks at three reasons why Jurgen Klopp’s men brought it upon themselves.

3 reasons why Liverpool deserved to lose

Taking off Salah and Robertson

Leading 2-1 at the 77th-minute mark, Klopp opted to take off Andrew Robertson and Mohamed Salah.

Conor Bradley came on for the Scottish international, while Cody Gakpo came on for the Egyptian.

The decision proved to be quite a turning point as Bradley struggled to adjust to the game's tempo and was often found wanting on the wing. Gakpo offered little in attack, whereas Salah had earlier scored against the Red Devils.

The Egyptian netted his 13th appearance in 14 games against United but wasn’t given the chance to add to that tally.

Liverpool would concede ten minutes after the substitution, as United took the game to extra time.

Allowing United to run behind them

Liverpool are generally assured at the back, especially with Virgin van Dijk marshalling the troops.

Against United, however, they were often found wanting at the back, as the Red Devils exploited the right back area in particular.

Ten Hag’s charges found themselves with space behind Liverpool’s defenders, and Marcus Rashford had more than one chance to finish the game off earlier.

While Caoimhin Kelleher has been rock solid in defence since Alisson’s injury, he was often exposed in one-on-one situations and couldn’t stop Rashford’s equaliser or Amad Diallo’s late winner.

Failing to capitalise on chances

Liverpool had 25 shots in total during the game, and 11 were on target, but they could only find the back of the net three times.

Two of the three goals took deflections off United players, while Salah’s goal hit the inside of the post before going in.

Liverpool also had instances where they should have punished the Red Devils but failed to do so.

Their wasteful attack cost them deadly, and after the game, Klopp even discussed the poor decision-making, This Is Anfield reported.

FA Cup semi-finals confirmed

Sports Brief also recently reported on the semi-final pairings for the FA Cup being finalised, with just two rounds of the competition left.

The road to Wembley Stadium is clear after Manchester United overcame Liverpool to join Manchester City, Chelsea, and Coventry City.

Authors
Byron Pillay photo
Byron Pillay
Byron Pillay is a sports writer and Head of the Department at Sports Brief (joined in 2022) with over 10 years of experience in community journalism and a degree in journalism from Caxton's Cadet School.
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Erik Ten HaagJürgen Klopp