Manchester United went into the game at Anfield as big underdogs, trying to avoid the embarrassing loss that started the team’s slide last season. They barely made it, but they finished third that year.

Erik ten Hag did lead his team to a valuable point in the Premier League, and they kept a clean sheet to do it. They were the first team this season to shut out Liverpool at home in any league.

There were no goals scored in the game, and United will be happier with a tie than the other team. Many United players worked hard, especially in the back and middle.

Kobbie Mainoo’s effort in numbers: Manchester United had 11 first-team players out because they were injured or suspended when they went to Merseyside. Club captain Bruno Fernandes was one of them.

Ten Hag has been using Scott McTominay and Sofyan Amrabat in the middle two in recent weeks. However, when Fernandes wasn’t available, ten Hag put McTominay in as the number 10 player. Therefore, ten Hag had the guts to put 18-year-old Kobbie Mainoo in with Amrabat to see if he could swim or sink.

Mainoo was the youngest player in Manchester United history to start against Liverpool at Anfield, but he didn’t seem to mind at all.

Ten Hag said “When you are good enough, you are old enough” after the game. That was proven by him. Liam Canning, a football agent, called the school graduate a “special talent” and said he had a “spectacular” performance.

Even though the away team only had 31% of the ball during the game, the kid touched it 30 times and ended up moving the ball 89% of the time. Before he was removed with eight minutes left in normal time, Mainoo made three passes into the final third, won half of his tackles, and won 67% of his ground battles.

A young playmaker with a bright future played very well, but there was someone in the back who was even better than Mainoo.