Alexander Isak and his surrounding Liverpool teammates were left in a state of shock at one Mo Salah miss.
The Egyptian international, historically a heroic figure in clashes with Manchester United, somehow failed to bring the Reds level in the second half of action.
United’s Bryan Mbeumo had opened the scoring, after a Virgil van Dijk error, in the opening minute of action in the first half.
Alexander Isak reacts to Mo Salah miss vs Man Utd
Florian Wirtz clapped his hands to his mouth.
Fellow summer signing Alexander Isak was spotted falling to his knees in slow-motion.
Legendary Liverpool forward Mo Salah had missed the chance of all chances against Senne Lammens in the second half.
Footage from Sky Sports showed the number 11 picking up the ball just outside the six-yard box – unmarked in acres of space – before firing the ball off target into the crowd.
Mo Salah passes up a big opportunity to level the scoring! 😳 pic.twitter.com/HAqWLe1crV
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) October 19, 2025
Don’t get us wrong, Salah has hardly been the only Liverpool forward to have apparently mislaid his scoring boots.
Both Isak and Cody Gakpo have been guilty of missing clear goalscoring opportunities either side of the half-time break.
| Mo Salah stats | Cody Gakpo stats | Alexander Isak stats |
| 1 big chance missed | 1 big chance missed | 1 big chance missed |
| 0.40 non-penalty expected goals (xG) | 1.55 non-penalty expected goals (xG) | 0.34 non-penalty expected goals (xG) |
| 9 touches in opposition box | 10 touches in opposition box | 4 touches in opposition box |
Liverpool forwards let Arne Slot down at Anfield
Whichever way you look at it, a 2-1 defeat at home to Manchester United – at home to THIS Manchester United – is unacceptable.
The fact that we’ve had an international break to separate what had been a three-game losing streak arguably makes this even worse.
In seasons gone by, Liverpool could always count on the fact that at least one or two forwards would be switched on enough to see the chances through to fruition.
But it seems like every forward available to Arne Slot is suffering from chronic inefficiency, which arguably overshadows Liverpool’s defensive concerns at the other end of the pitch.
We should have secured the lion’s share of the points, the stats indicated we deserved as much.
| Liverpool stats | Manchester United stats |
| 2.76 expected goals (xG) | 1.26 expected goals (xG) |
| 19 shots (6 on target) | 12 shots (4 on target) |
| 5 big chances | 5 big chances |
| 4 big chances missed | 3 big chances missed |
* Liverpool vs Manchester United stats (19/10/2025), via Fotmob
But we can’t keep turning to the stats, game after game, and wondering why the end product and, ultimately the results aren’t quite matching up.
Disappointing, yet again.
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Liverpool need drop salah for few games so Liverpool can adapt for when salah goes to African nation
When you spend 450 million and have the squad that we have, in the end Questions will be asked about the manager and why he isn’t getting the best out of these players. What won the league last season was down to the start we got off to. Defensively we were good, we controlled games, and kept clean sheets. It’s gone from control to chaos. Just look at the second half, wirtz and Jones in midfield, and four attacking players. That’s three games we’ve got back into and then lost to poor defending. Where’s the game management from slot, it’s gone past naive.
Fsg will now be watching, and unless slot sorts out this mess he’ll be gone before Christmas.
I agree on all the critics of Slot. He got the best team in EPL and there is nothing he can hide from. I’d had never managed the team this way. That’s from the starting 11 to the end of the game. Everyone knew that there was going to be a tough game. Selecting Bradley and Kerkez was the first mistake. Salah the second one. Wirtz the third, and not starting Ekitike the fourth. It all boils down to bad management.
The problem is Salah’s ego. He wants to be the main man. There have been a few games where he should have squared it or played Isak in. Look at that picture up there, Salah decides to go for glory and puts it wide, If that had been Jacob Murphy in that position, it’s going straight to Isak. Liverpool didn’t need to buy him, Ekitike is far better.