It was a disappointing Saturday afternoon at Old Trafford for everyone in Liverpool colours but it was a particularly tricky afternoon for centre back Dejan Lovren.

The Croatian international was bullied, particularly in the first half, by Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku as the Belgian bossed the game to help set up Marcus Rashford's two first half goals.

And in the post match analysis, Lovren was singled out by former Liverpool players Graeme Souness and Jamie Carragher who believed he needed to wise up and pass Romelu Lukaku on to defensive partner Virgil Van Dijk.

Dejan Lovren struggled to match Romelu Lukaku in Liverpool's defeat to Manchester United

The defender was criticised by Graeme Souness who suggested Lovren had been bullied

Former Liverpool player Jamie Carragher thinks pride got in the way of Lovren playing smart

'(Dejan) Lovren gets outmuscled by Lukaku, Can is dreaming and Marcus Rashford has had a bit of luck with this one,' Souness summarised.

'The ball drops kindly and deflection takes it past (Loris) Karius. You think Lovren is going to learn from the first one but he doesn’t.

'He gets a lot of stick, Lukaku. (Marcus) Rashford will get the headlines but Lukaku played a big part. I think Dejan Lovren will have nightmares about him tonight.'

Carragher cited his time playing in Liverpool's back four and how pride must not get in the way of being an honest professional.

The Sky Sports pundit believed Lovren could not accept that Lukaku was stronger than him and his ignorance saw him make the mistake over and over.

Lovren was regularly outfought by Lukaku as the Belgian bossed the opening 45 minutes

'His pride takes over,' Carragher said.

'There is nothing wrong with accepting that someone is stronger than you in a game. Don't fight someone who is stronger than you.

'I wasn’t the greatest in the air so I'd say to Sami Hyppia "swap, you take him". You’ve got to use your brain. He's a machine Lukaku, the size of him, don't let your pride get in the way of it!

'He gets knocked over again, gets bullied, accept he’s stronger than you. Use your brain!'