Jadon Sancho fired Erik ten Hag’s side in front in the 16th minute before Marcus Rashford doubled the lead early in the second half. Mohamed Salah pulled a goal back for Klopp in the 81st minute but Liverpool were unable to salvage a point, dropping to 16th in the Premier League table with just two points. Liverpool legend Steve Nicol has admitted the Reds’ 2-1 defeat by Man United is “worrying”. Jadon Sancho found the bottom corner to put Manchester United ahead on 16 minutes Marcus Rashford stayed put as he broke free from the Reds defense to fire United 2-0 It is the worst start to a Premier League season for the Reds in 10 years and last season’s runners-up are already five points behind champions Manchester City. However, former Red Nicol insisted Liverpool cannot erase a top-four finish but admitted the side’s poor performance on Monday is “worrying” for their title push. “You can’t turn around and say they’re not going to be in the top four,” claimed Nicol to ESPN FC after the match. However, when pressed on whether he believed a top-two finish was still within Liverpool’s grasp, he admitted he had his doubts as he replied: “It’s a bit worrying. Mohamed Salah hit back for Liverpool as Jurgen Klopp’s side looked to salvage defeat. Steve Nicol admitted Monday’s poor performance is “worrying” for the Reds’ title push “It’s one thing to lose a game by being unlucky, it’s another to lose a game and have a lot of the fundamentals so wrong. “The things I’m talking about, especially defensively. Can you imagine Haaland running behind that line? Holy smokes. Talk about worrying. “But once they get the basics right, they have talent they can’t argue with that. So they need to sort out the basics and quickly.’ Roberto Firmino started as a No.9 in the absence of the sent-off Darwin Nunez after the Reds lost Sadio Mane to Bayern Munich this summer. The Senegalese star has three goals in three wins for the Bundesliga side, while his former club are yet to pick up three points in their stuttering start to the season. Former Red insists former star striker Sadio Mane was not missing from Klopp’s squad However, Nicol insisted that Mane’s departure from Anfield is not the cause of the Reds’ woes. When asked if he would admit Mane was missing at Liverpool, Nicol responded by saying: “Because it was a bad start, is it because of Mane? “Didn’t Mane play in central midfield? Or right back? Or middle center? If he played today, Mane wouldn’t even see the ball. It wouldn’t have kicks either.’ But partner Don Hutchison disagreed as he claimed United would be terrified if Mane was at Old Trafford.
He said: “I think it’s one of those where if Mane was there tonight, and it was Diaz, Mane as a No.9, Salah they would have scared the life out of Manchester United. The Senegal star left Anfield to join Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich this summer “The fact that Firmino was playing there they could push a bit higher up the pitch. He wouldn’t be as high up the pitch with Mane running back. “It’s one of those Liverpool misses, ‘Oh, they should have kept Mane’, when they’re winning 6-0, ‘they don’t need Mane’. Nicol believed Liverpool’s defeat was not down to the absence of a former Red but rather the defensive woes of a current player. He slammed Trent Alexander-Arnold’s “attempt” to defend Sancho in United’s opener and claimed Liverpool’s backline can no longer cover the right-back. “We’re not telling Klopp anything he doesn’t know,” he began. “But what Klopp is doing is basically saying to himself ‘you know what we’re getting so much from this kid in the future we’re going to have to take him on the chin when he’s got no defense.’ Nicol claimed Liverpool manager Klopp (right) has taken Trent Alexander-Arnold’s defensive problems on the chin as the right-back offers “so much” for the team going forward. “And that was fine when the other three were at their best. They made him. But it’s every game now, there are problems from that side and they struggle to cover him now. No one could cover him. He can’t do it. “I mean you saw his attempt to try to tackle the one-two, there was absolutely no commitment to it. He jogged back to the middle of the park. Now if he had sprinted into the penalty area he might have had a challenge on Sancho but he didn’t, he walked. “Defense is not his forte. We know it, Klopp knows it, but Klopp is prepared to take the negative because of what he gets next.” The Reds host newly promoted Bournemouth at Anfield next weekend as their quest for their first win of the season continues.