Liverpool lost 3-2 to Manchester United in the Premier League and while a place in the Champions League is not in jeopardy, Roy Keane was unimpressed by Arne Slot's team
08:31, 04 May 2026
Former Manchester United midfielder Roy Keane.
Former Manchester United midfielder Roy Keane.(Image: Visionhaus/Getty Images)
Roy Keane was far from impressed by the performance that Liverpool put in against Manchester United this weekend, labelling Arne Slot's team as "easy to play against".
Goals from Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko put the Old Trafford side in control before mistakes early in the second half allowed Dominik Szoboszlai and Cody Gakpo to net, making it 2-2 with more than a third of the game remaining.
Liverpool failed to press on from that position, though. The game drifted again, before Kobbie Mainoo found the winner from the edge of the penalty area with a strike that went into the corner of Freddie Woodman's goal.
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Slot's men were missing several key players through injury, including their first two choices to play in goal, plus Alexander Isak, Hugo Ekitike and Mohamed Salah in attack.
Even when some of those stars have been fit, however, things have not always gone Liverpool's way this season. Keane has a clear verdict on why that is the case.
"I think the worst insult for a team is when people say you're easy to play against," the pundit said on Sky Sports' coverage of the game.
Arne Slot, head coach of Liverpool, and Michael Carrick, interim manager of Manchester United.
Arne Slot, head coach of Liverpool, and Michael Carrick, interim manager of Manchester United.(Image: Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
"Liverpool are, certainly, this year. They've lost 19 in total. If teams think you're easy to play against, that's an insult off the back of winning the league. That will hurt the players and the manager the most.
"If you want to stop counter-attacks, stop it at source. Decision-making, being in the right positions. The softness with Liverpool is even in their decision-making."
Even in coming back from two goals down, Liverpool didn't especially fight that much to create those chances. Manchester United gifted the opportunities through errors from Amad Diallo and Senne Lammens.
"You know when you come here they want to start strong and aggressive and we were aware of that," Slot said.
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"When did we concede the first goal? Six minutes? So, indeed, in this first six minutes I saw us not picking up the second balls, although we had a few moments where we pressed them high.
"But if you concede after six minutes in this stadium then you always know you’re going to face a struggle period afterwards."
Liverpool.com says: There is no doubt that the Reds were too easy to play through in the first half, but that was perhaps down to the set-up as much as anything.
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Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister couldn't cover the ground on their own, and Szoboszlai and Florian Wirtz were ineffective as two false nines. When the system changed at half-time, Liverpool looked considerably better.