Draw exposes the differing frailties in United and Liverpool

By the end of an entertaining 90 minutes, there was no splitting Manchester United and Liverpool, who played out their second draw of the season in Sunday’s 1-1 encounter. A look at the two teams displays contrasting fortunes this season: one side can’t defend, while the other is struggling to find goals.

Liverpool have proven this season that they can strike from anywhere, be it through Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino combining, Daniel Sturridge of the substitutes’ bench or – as what unfolded at Old Trafford – James Milner converting from the penalty spot.

If only they could see games out though. Jürgen Klopp’s side have now failed to see out matches where they were leading against United, Sunderland and Bournemouth, and these costly errors are why they are not fighting Chelsea at the top with the six points dropped one short of the current gap to the Premier League leaders.

For United, they have grown too dependent on Zlatan Ibrahimovic to score goals. Paul Pogba holds the next best tally in the league this season with four, but the less said about his performance at the weekend the better (we’ll get to him shortly, don’t worry) while Juan Mata, the only other player in Jose Mourinho’s squad to score four times in the league, was left out of the starting line-up.

Manchester United vs Liverpool player ratings Show all 22 1 /22 Manchester United vs Liverpool player ratings Manchester United vs Liverpool player ratings David de Gea: 6 The Spaniard had little to do, and thus there is little praise to offer him. He couldn't do much to stop Bailly's own goal, which cruelly slipped inside his near post. Getty Manchester United vs Liverpool player ratings Antonio Valencia: 7 Found Mane a difficult opposite number as Liverpool looked to exploit the left flank after Ashley Young proved to be an immovable object. Kept to his task well, though. Manchester United vs Liverpool player ratings Chris Smalling: 6 Lost van Dijk twice from corners and on another day he could well have been punished. But he got away with it, and helped United see the game through. Manchester United vs Liverpool player ratings Eric Bailly: 7 An unfortunate own goal marred an otherwise solid display. United look far more assured with him in the side Getty Manchester United vs Liverpool player ratings Ashley Young: 9 He used all of his winger pedigree to stifle one of the best players in the division. Salah did not get a sniff. Manchester United vs Liverpool player ratings Nemanja Matic 8 Another solid dsplay marshalling United's rearguard action.Ran proceedings from the heart of midfield. Manchester United vs Liverpool player ratings Scott McTominay 7 A quiet but effective performance from the Scot alongside Matic. Manchester United vs Liverpool player ratings Juan Mata: 6 Could have written his name into United folklore with an overhead kick in the first half, but it wsan't to be. Solid defensively and creative going forward. Manchester United vs Liverpool player ratings Alexis Sanchez: 6 Another anonymous display. Effective pressing and important in link play, but yet to make his mark for United. The wait for the breakthrough moment goes on. Manchester United vs Liverpool player ratings Marcus Rashford: 9 An outstanding display for the academy product. Two crucial goals on his first start since boxing day. Manchester United vs Liverpool player ratings Romelu Lukaku: 8 Isolated in the second half as United sat deep, but his hold-up play was crucial to United's first half double. Manchester United vs Liverpool player ratings Lorius Karius: 6 Little he could about both goals which were expertly taken. Relatively untroubled thereafter. AFP/Getty Images Manchester United vs Liverpool player ratings Trent Alexander-Arnold: 5 A tough afternoon for the youngster, who met his match in Marcus Rashford. Man Utd via Getty Images Manchester United vs Liverpool player ratings Dejan Lovren: 5 Completely dominated by Lukaku, especially in the first period. Grew into the game, but questions will remain about who should partner van Dijk. REUTERS Manchester United vs Liverpool player ratings Virgil van Dijk: 5 Missed two big chances from corners, but defensively found himself unstuck as Liverpool struggled to deal Lukaku and Rashford. Liverpool FC via Getty Images Manchester United vs Liverpool player ratings Andy Robertson: 7 The Scottish full back put in a solid display and was effective going forward. Liverpool's best defensive performer. Liverpool FC via Getty Images Manchester United vs Liverpool player ratings Emre Can: 6 Struggled against McTominay and Matic in an otherwise unremarkable display. Getty Images Manchester United vs Liverpool player ratings James Milner: 6 Creativity is not normally an issue for Liverpool but they lacked it in midfield. United's defensive performance played a part, but for Milner, it was a game to forget. Getty Images Manchester United vs Liverpool player ratings Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain 5 : A frustrating afternoon for Oxlande Chamberlain. Booked early on for a foul on McTominay, and never really got going. He was unsurprisingly subbed just after the hour mark. AFP/Getty Images Manchester United vs Liverpool player ratings Sadio Mane: 7 A threat with his direct running and caused Valencia a number of problems. His cross led to Liverpool's goal, a meritable return on a frustrating afternoon. Liverpool FC via Getty Images Manchester United vs Liverpool player ratings Mohamed Salah: 5 He won't have found Ashley Young's pocked a comfortable place to reside. A frustrating afternoon for the Egyptian, who revealed himself to be human after all. Getty Images Manchester United vs Liverpool player ratings Roberto Firmino: 6 The Brazilian offered a link between midfield and attack but didn't have any opportunities of note. A stifled afternoon for the former Hoffenheim man. Getty Images

It’s all the more surprising that neither manager is willing to delve into the transfer market and try to strengthen their side. That’s almost certainly due to the lack of quality available this month, but unless something is done, there’s no way either side can hope to win the title.

The dangers of the hashtag revealed

And so to Paul Pogba, or #Pogba as he was known on Sunday. The 23-year-old could be seen all over Old Trafford and Twitter on Sunday after becoming the first player to be turned into a hashtag, social media speaking.

It’s maybe with Pogba turned in his worst performance since arriving at United in the summer. If the burden of playing under the tag of the world’s most expensive player wasn’t large enough, United and Adidas combined to make the France international the focal point of the clash between two rivals that was big enough to sell on its own.

With is face displayed all around the stadium and his name trending on Twitter within minutes of kick-off the pressure clearly got to the young man. Pogba struggled to contain Dejan Lovren when defending corners, and at the third time of asking was left in a spin that resulted in one of the more blatant hand balls you will see. He also missed a golden opportunity to score, but the one shining light for him – and United – is that this is clearly an anomaly.

Pogba had experienced a peak in form until Sunday's match (Getty)

Pogba has been formidable after the last two months, and to write him off after Sunday would be reckless. Let’s just hope United have learned their lesson too.

Chelsea and West Ham show the power of team spirit

No Diego Costa, no Dimitri Payet, but there was six goals, six points and a big smile on the faces of Antonio Conte and Slaven Bilic. Both managers had to deal with rogue players last week, with Costa and Conte involved in a training ground row and Payet informing Bilic he no longer wanted to play for the Hammers.

The result? Emphatic wins for Chelsea and West Ham and further proof that there is no player bigger than a club. It’s true that with Costa leading the line, Chelsea look unstoppable in their pursuit to reclaim the Premier League title, while West Ham’s hopes of European football are significantly improved by a player of Payet’s talents.

But neither are indispensable, and the money generated from their inevitable departures – this month or in the summer – will enable both clubs to sign adequate replacements. It was Bilic who used the days leading up to Saturday’s3-0 win over Crystal Palace to stress that Payet’s strike would bring the rest of the squad closer together, and so it proved. Chelsea also displayed a collective spirit rarely seen among the ‘big six’, and with both squads said to be against Costa’s and Payet’s actions, it appears that clubs do still hold some bargaining power when it comes to the players.

Chelsea showed they can still win without Costa (Getty)

North London comes out fighting

As weekends go, they don’t get much better for Arsenal and Tottenham. Had Chelsea slipped up, it would’ve been perfect, but with United, Liverpool and Manchester City all failing to win, 4-0 wins for the north London duo were very welcome indeed.

Spurs kicked the show off with one of their best performances under Mauricio Pochettino. There have already been highlights during his reign – the win this season over City an obvious one – but it was the performance of Spurs as a collective unit that saw them thrash West Bromwich Albion 4-0, with Harry Kane’s hat-trick the product of a fantastic bond between the England striker, Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli.

Arsenal were equally as lethal, though their 4-0 triumph over Swansea said more about the opposition than the Gunners. Two own goals from Jack Cork and Kyle Naughton were unlucky, but in truth Swansea were no match for Arsenal and Paul Clement saw the sheer size of the task at hand to keep the Welsh side in the top flight. The question now is can either Spurs or Arsenal use this momentum to challenge Chelsea over the rest of the season?

Kane notched his first hat-trick of the season (Getty)

Everton on the up, but same can’t be said for City

You’d have to go back a long way to find such an impressive performance from Everton, as they were at their clinical best to defeat Manchester City 4-0 on Sunday in the latest dent to Pep Guardiola’s title hopes – which are quickly becoming faint top-four dreams.

Both Kevin Mirallas and academy product Tom Davies were brilliant in their performances, and Ronald Koeman is beginning to bring the best out of the pair along with the nearly-man Ross Barkley, who could yet turn out to be the player he’s been billed as. Koeman’s finding small ways to improve Everton, none more so than in front of goal, as his side converted all four of their shots on target to secure a famous win at Goodison Park.

But for City the alarm bells are ringing. Guardiola cannot claim to have made City’s squad any better, and apart from the injured Ilkay Gundogan, none of his summer signings have made an impact anything close to what is expected. City have conceded more and scored less than Chelsea, Spurs, Arsenal and Liverpool, and the decision to let Joe Hart leave looks more and more questionable given Bravo failed to make a save at the weekend. At 33 years old, he’s hardly an option for the future, either, and for Guardiola those alarm bells are becoming deafening.

Davies scored his first goal for Everton on a famous afternoon (Getty)

Hull up for the fight even if they still need strengthening

Few will have looked at Hull’s encounter against Bournemouth and predicted a 3-1 comeback victory for a side that were bottom of the table at the start of the weekend. It came about somewhat by chance, with Abel Hernandez only in the side due to the alarming number of injuries on Marco Silva’s hands, but the forward delivered with two goals and the win was completed when Tom Huddlestone’s effort was turned in by the unfortunate Tyrone Mings.

If Silva wanted a reaction from his side in their games together, he’s got it. Wins in the FA Cup and Premier League along with a spirited defeat by Manchester United in the EFL Cup semi-finals shows Hull still believe they can stay up this season. Their reward is 18th place, leapfrogging Swansea and Sunderland, and are level on points with 17th-place Palace.

Suddenly the promised land doesn’t look that far away.

Abel Hernandez celebrates after scoring his second goal against Bournemouth (Getty)

West Brom face crunch time as Pulis calls for reinforcements

West Bromwich Albion have emerged from their testing run pretty much as expected, with losses to Manchester United, Arsenal, and Tottenham sandwiching much-needed wins over Southampton and Hull. But now the hard work restarts.

The Baggies have been one of the surprises of the season, but manager Tony Pulis has called on his board to loosen the purse strings and bring in the right players to strengthen the squad. They missed out on Morgan Schneiderlin, who made his Everton debut after completing a £22m switch from Manchester United, and haven’t made any major signings this month.