Liverpool wasted a chance to move top when they drew 2-2 with Manchester United in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon.

Luis Diaz opened the scoring after Darwin Nunez flicked on a corner, but Liverpool squandered several clear chances – including those from Mohamed Salah, Dominik Szoboszlai, and Nunez – before the home team equalised from nothing, with Bruno Fernandes scoring a long-range shot after Jarell Quansah’s misplaced pass.

Kobbie Mainoo then curled in a beautiful second for United, and the visitors needed a Mohamed Salah penalty late on to equalize the score with Arsenal, who remain top on goal difference.

Here are the key talking points from the contest at Old Trafford.

Young center-backs demonstrate their quality and inexperience

There were no Raphael Varane, Ibrahima Konate, Johnny Evans, Joel Matip, or Victor Lindelof in the starting lineups, therefore each team had one defender with fewer than 40 senior games.

Willy Kambwala struggled in the early stages, particularly against Nunez, but he grew into the game and was one of the characters the fans responded to when United needed a boost.

Meanwhile, Jarell Quansah was outstanding in the first 48 minutes until strangely giving the ball to Bruno Fernandes, who scored from 50 yards on the home team’s first chance of the game.

Both have bright futures ahead of them, but this fixture did provide some learning opportunities.

Echoes of the FA Cup in a wild encounter.

The most recent meeting between the two sides at this stadium was a back-and-forth FA Cup match, which United won after extra time.

It appeared at first that this game would be significantly less insane than the last one, and by goal count, that may have been the case, but the scoreline in connection to the periods of play was certainly unusual during the second half.

Liverpool had been by much the superior team but fell behind, only to pull level late on and ultimately leave Old Trafford feeling both relieved and furious.

No defense against the number of shots on goal.

The Sky Sports commentary team heaped criticism on Manchester United in the first half, as Erik ten Hag’s team continued to be liberal in allowing teams attempts on goal.

Liverpool got off to a blazing start, with 15 attempts in the first 45 minutes against United’s zero.

This occurred after they allowed 28, 31, 25, 23, and 27 shots in their previous five games against Chelsea, Brentford, Liverpool, Everton, and Manchester City, respectively.

But, as United demonstrated after the restart, making them count is critical; they scored their first and fifth shots to lead the game 2-1 despite an xG of only 0.32.

Will Liverpool’s wastefulness cost them the title?

They’ve had plenty of games this season where their offense has annihilated the opposition, but Liverpool has recently been significantly more profligate, as was the case today at Old Trafford.

One goal from 15 shots in the first half and two – including the penalty – from 28 total demonstrate that this was also the case today.

Luis Diaz rifled over from close range late on, Nunez squandered a number of chances, and Salah had a bad day – the forward line was far from their best, and they need to recover that lethal touch immediately.

Late goals continue to cost United dearly.

After leading heading into stoppage time twice last week against Brentford and Chelsea, only to draw and lose, Manchester United must have been hoping for better this time.

However, they failed to complete the final five minutes – a little earlier than injury time, but with the same result – with points dropped.

Erik ten Hag continues to be incapable of reorganizing his side or raising the group’s defensive awareness, and the team has dropped seven points in just over a week from winning situations, often late in games.