Manchester United moved up to ninth in the Premier League table and within two points of the Champions League places with a 2-1 win 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 the victory for the away side.
Bruno Fernandes volleyed a brilliant ball to the back stick for the England international to nod the ball back the other way into the far corner, just six minutes after Cody Gakpo’s equaliser.
Whilst it was Maguire who scored the winning goal, United had Senne Lammens to thank for the three points because of his performance in goal.
Why Senne Lammens won Man Utd the game against Liverpool
United have had their fair share of troubles with goalkeepers in recent seasons. Altay Bayindir conceded 0.84 more than expected and made one error that led to a goal in the first six matches of the Premier League season, per Sofascore.
Lammens, however, has come in from Royal Antwerp and looks to be a safe pair of hands. After a clean sheet against Sunderland, the Belgian giant made four saves and prevented 1.25 goals, per Sofascore, against Liverpool.
The pick of the saves came in the first half when he prevented British-record signing Alexander Isak from scoring by smartly sticking a foot out to keep the shot out of his net.
Without his shot-stopping and calmness behind the defence, Man United may have only come away from Anfield with a point, or none, given how poorly Altay performed at the start of the season.
Whilst Lammens was a shining light in goal and should be considered undroppable, Mason Mount should be ditched from the starting XI by Ruben Amorim.
Why Man Utd should drop Mason Mount
The England international, who scored against Sunderland before the break, started as part of a fluid front three alongside Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo, with Benjamin Sesko dropped to the bench.
It was a tactic that worked, to a point, as the movement across the front confused the Liverpool defence and created some promising moments, including Mbeumo’s goal.
Mount’s individual performance, though, suggests that the £66.4m signing from RB Leipzig should be brought back in to lead the line against Brighton next weekend.
|
Vs Liverpool |
Mason Mount |
Benjamin Sesko |
|---|---|---|
|
Minutes |
61 |
29 |
|
Shots |
2 |
1 |
|
Big chances missed |
1 |
0 |
|
Touches |
19 |
19 |
|
Pass accuracy |
58% |
62% |
|
Key passes |
0 |
1 |
|
Big chances created |
0 |
0 |
|
Successful dribbles |
0 |
1 |
|
Duels won |
1/3 |
4/6 |
As you can see in the table above, Sesko created more chances, completed more dribbles, and won four times as many duels, in roughly half as much time on the pitch.
The Slovenia international, who has scored two Premier League goals this season, offers a physical presence at the top end of the pitch that allows Mbeumo and Cunha to play off him, which they did not have when Mount and Cunha were rotating in the number nine role.
Mount played the role that was asked of him by Amorim and provided energy in the win over Liverpool, but his end product in and out possession was simply not good enough, as he had even fewer touches of the ball (19) than Lammens in goal (55), per Sofascore.
This is why the head coach should ruthlessly drop him from the starting XI in order to bring Sesko back in to lead the line against Brighton next time out, as the former Leipzig man is a natural number nine who can offer a greater threat in front of goal.
