Manchester United moved up to ninth in the Premier League table and two points off the Champions League places with a 2-1 victory over Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday.
The Red Devils claimed all three points at Anfield for the first time since January 2016 after a late header from Harry Maguire sealed victory for the visiting side.
Bruno Fernandes sent a brilliant volley off the back stick for the England international to volley the ball the other way into the far corner, just six minutes after Cody Gakpo’s equalizer.
While it was Maguire who scored the winner, United had Senne Lammens to thank for all three points due to his performance in goal.
Why Senne Lammens won the match against Liverpool at Man Utd
United have had their share of problems with goalkeeping in recent seasons. Altay Bayindir conceded 0.84 more than expected and made an error that led to a goal in the first six matches of the Premier League season, according to Sofascore.
Lammens, however, arrives from Royal Antwerp and appears to be a safe pair of hands. After a clean sheet against Sunderland, the Belgian giant made four saves and avoided 1.25 goals, according to Sofascore, against Liverpool.
The pick of the saves came in the first half when he prevented British record signing Alexander Isak from scoring by cleverly sticking out a foot to keep the shot out of his net.
Without his shot-stopping and composure behind the defence, Man United might have only come away from Anfield with a point, if any, given Altay’s poor performances at the start of the season.
While Lammens was a shining light in goal and should be considered unstoppable, Mason Mount should be dropped from the starting XI by Ruben Amorim.
Why Man Utd should ditch Mason Mount
The England international, who scored against Sunderland before the break, started as part of a free-flowing trio alongside Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo, with Benjamin Sesko dropping to the bench.
It was a tactic that worked, to a point, as the movement across the front confused the Liverpool defense and created some promising moments, most notably Mbeumo’s goal.
Mount’s individual performance, however, suggests the £66.4m signing from RB Leipzig should be brought back to lead the line against Brighton next weekend.
|
Against Liverpool |
Mason mount |
Benjamin Sesko |
|---|---|---|
|
Minutes |
61 |
29 |
|
Gunshots |
2 |
1 |
|
Big missed opportunities |
1 |
0 |
|
Keys |
19 |
19 |
|
Success accuracy |
58% |
62% |
|
Key passes |
0 |
1 |
|
Big chances created |
0 |
0 |
|
Successful dribbles |
0 |
1 |
|
Duels won |
1/3 |
4/6 |
|
Statistics via Sofascore |
||
As you can see in the table above, Sesko created more chances, completed more dribbles and won four times more duels, in about half the time on the pitch.
The Slovenia international, who has scored two Premier League goals this season, provides a physical presence high up the pitch that allows Mbeumo and Cunha to play against him, something they did not have when Mount and Cunha rotated in the number nine role.
Mount played the role asked of him by Amorim and provided energy in the win over Liverpool, but his final possession simply wasn’t good enough, as he had even fewer touches of the ball (19) than Lammens in goal (55), according to Sofascore.
This is why the head coach should ruthlessly remove him from the starting XI in order to bring back Sesko to lead the line against Brighton next time out, as the former Leipzig man is a natural number nine who can offer a bigger threat in front of goal.
