Manchester United head into the game this weekend with back-to-back Premier League victories under their belt
Every Manchester United player who took to the field on Sunday against Liverpool played their part in the victory and created special memories for the fanbase who travelled perhaps more in hope than expectation.
While Arne Slot’s side were, and are, on a bad run of form, United’s terrible experiences in recent years at Anfield suggested that Sunday could have been the day the host’s returned to what they are capable of. And yet, within the first minute, that narrative was brushed to one side and United went on to record what will go down as a famous win.
Choosing a man of the match after such a result is an unenviable task but the one player who managed to truly cement himself as an undroppable deserved the acclaim. Senne Lammens.
Like the Sunderland match, Lammens did not necessarily have to play out of his skin to have a good game against Liverpool. But he did have his moments.
The Belgian commanded his area in the hostile atmosphere and did superbly when he was called into action in the first half to prevent Alexander Isak equalising. In the second half, United came under further pressure but Lammens stood tall and inspired confidence from those who were in front of him.
He did excellently to close down Mohamed Salah to ensure his strike sailed wide and while he was beaten for Cody Gakpo’s goal, there was little he could have done to prevent that. Potentially Lammens’ most important contribution though came in stoppage time.
With Liverpool looking to pile on the pressure, the corners started to flow and that’s when the goalkeeper truly impressed. Instead of wilting, the 23-year-old took charge of his box, punching the ball away and ensuring that there was no need for any further jangling nerves.
After Sunderland, nobody wanted to get too excited about Lammens. We have seen too many false dawns in that position before.
However, combine this with the Liverpool performance and suddenly it looks like there is even greater reason to be optimistic about the goalkeeper. Yes, Altay Bayindir tried his best to fill that role but it now feels as though that place firmly belongs to the Belgian.
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