EPL

Seventh heaven – Liverpool's record-breaking Manchester United demolition in numbers

By Sports Desk March 05, 2023

Liverpool shattered decades-old records in their 7-0 rout of Manchester United, delivering one of their all-time great Premier League victories.

Braces for Cody Gakpo, Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah – the latter of whom set a new record of his own – saw the hosts run riot at Anfield.

Roberto Firmino, in the first game since his end-of-season departure from Merseyside was confirmed, added a final touch of gloss to a magnificent performance too.

But the scoreline wasn't the only impressive number set during 90 minutes of blockbuster entertainment for the home fans on Sunday. Stats Perform takes a dive into the Opta data from the game.

Salah writes place in Premier League history

The Egypt international has been an incredible player for Liverpool – this was never in doubt. But Sunday's double elevated his legendary status.

Salah's two goals saw him move clear of Robbie Fowler to become Liverpool's outright top scorer in the Premier League, with 129.

In addition, he became the first Liverpool player to score in six consecutive appearances in all competitions against United, continuing his rich vein of form against the Reds' bitter rivals.

Red Devils suffer joint-worst defeat in history

For Erik ten Hag's men, they crashed back to earth a week on from their EFL Cup final triumph in brutal fashion, writing an unwanted chapter in the record books.

It was the joint-worst competitive defeat they have ever suffered, last losing by seven to Wolves on Boxing Day in 1931. They also lost 7-0 to Blackburn Rovers in April 1926.

What's more, United have now lost more Premier League matches against Liverpool (19) than any other side in the competition's history, and shipped 21 goals in their past five league meetings.

It was also their worst ever loss to the Merseyside club, eclipsing the 7-1 defeat suffered in October 1895.

Gakpo and Nunez start the party

While Salah ultimately reigned supreme with his history-making performance, it was his two forward partners who got the ball rolling either side of half-time for Liverpool.

Netherlands international Gakpo struck just before the interval before adding a second later on, meaning he has now netted in three of his last four Premier League starts.

Uruguay attacker Nunez made it 2-0 29 seconds after the restart and then headed in Liverpool's fifth to take his club tally to 14, including four in his past four appearances – that's as many as he managed in his previous 14 games combined.

Nunez's second ensured he and Gakpo became the first Liverpool pair to score twice in the same top-flight match against United since Arthur Goddard and James Stewart in February 1910. Then Salah joined the party.

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    Charlotte forced a third match in their best-of-three series against Orlando, winning 3-1 on penalties after a 0-0 draw on Thursday.

    However, they lost the first game 2-0 when they travelled to Inter & Co Stadium and have not had much luck on the road against the Lions, failing to win there since March 2023.

    Smith was proud of how his side took the game to Orlando on home soil and is urging his players for more of the same when they return to Florida.

    "There's still a job to be done. We think we can go to Orlando and put in a performance that will put us through to the Conference semi-finals," Smith said.

    "We have to take our intensity in. That's what gave us that performance, our aggressiveness.

    "We forced them into mistakes, and we restricted them to almost no chances, so we were doing something right. We need to make sure we're on the front foot again and take it to them."

    Meanwhile, Orlando are hoping their home advantage will provide a much-needed boost as they look to put that shoot-out defeat behind them.

    They only managed one shot on target in that match and then netted just one of the four penalties that they took, but Oscar Pareja is confident they are in a strong position to go through.

    "We're good. We're aiming for the same intensity, the same intentions, the same plans and the same positive essence that we have.

    "When things get tight you've got to use the advantage, and we have that by being at home. We're going to be faithful to the tactics that have got us to this point.

    "We have to be confident and be ourselves. Have full belief in what to do. We have a team that plays very well and one that has earned this ride, so we plan to use our advantages."

    PLAYERS TO WATCH

    Orlando City – Duncan McGuire

    Orlando attempted just three shots in their game 2 draw and penalty shoot-out defeat to Charlotte, their fewest in any MLS match this season, while hitting just one on target.

    Duncan McGuire was responsible for one of those, generating 0.25 expected goals with that effort. The substitute also had the most touches in the box (three) of any Orlando player.

    Charlotte FC – Kristijan Kahlina

    Charlotte have won both of their penalty shootouts, beating Orlando City 4-1 on Friday after recording a 3-1 shootout win in the 2023 Leagues Cup group stage.

    Charlotte have converted all seven of their penalties in shootouts while Kristijan Kahlina allowed goals on just two of the seven spot-kicks he faced.

    MATCH PREDICTION: ORLANDO CITY WIN

    Orlando have won eight of their last 10 home matches against MLS opposition in all competitions (D1 L1), including a 2-0 victory over Charlotte in Game 1 on October 27. The Lions scored multiple goals in all eight wins over that time.

    While Charlotte stayed alive with a penalty shoot-out win after a scoreless draw against Orlando in Game 2 on Saturday, the Lions have now kept clean sheets in three straight matches against them after not doing so in any of the first six meetings in all competitions.

    Charlotte's only defeat in their last seven matches in all competitions was their Game 1 loss at Orlando on October 27. In fact, Charlotte’s last loss prior to this run of seven games (W4 D2 L1) also came in Orlando (on September 18), with the omens not looking good going into their final match.

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    Orlando City – 53.7%

    Draw – 23.7%

    Charlotte FC – 22.5%

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    "It was a wonderful experience that I carry within me, like all the past ones that I lived to the fullest."

    Napoli's winning run in Serie A came to a grinding halt against Atalanta last weekend when Conte's side were beaten 3-0, and they have a poor recent record against Inter, having won just one of their last 10 Serie A matches against them.

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    Vakoun Bayo scored the only goal of the match in the 54th minute after he turned in the rebound of his own saved shot.

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    They failed to register a single shot on target in the first half, and are yet to win a game when conceding the opening goal in the league this season, with this the fifth such match they have gone behind.

    It was Oxford's sixth defeat of the season and while manager Des Buckingham said there were positives to take, he was left frustrated by their lack of a clinical edge.

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