Analysing the Issues Manchester United Need to Resolve Ahead of Liverpool Clash

Manchester United went into the international break on a disappointing note. The 1-1 draw with Stoke City came at the end of a performance that manager Jose Mourinho described as the best of the season so far, but in the final reckoning, the two dropped points could be crucial.

Those points, and the ones dropped away at Watford and at home to Manchester City, mean Mourinho's men have little room for error across the rest of the season. And when their Premier League campaign recommences on October 17, a stern test awaits.

Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool wobbled as the season began. They beat Arsenal 4-3, but that game should not have ended as close once a 4-1 lead had been established. They stumbled away at Burnley, losing 2-0.

They rebounded from that with a respectable 1-1 draw at Tottenham Hotspur—better than Pep Guardiola's City managed (a 2-0 defeat)—and have since won four games in succession. They are only three points ahead of United, but the trajectory of their season has been much less erratic.

So what do United need to sort before they roll into Anfield? What are the issues that have affected the side so far? Let's take a look at what they need to make sure they get right in order to get the result their fans so desperately want.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic's Form

When considering the season so far as a whole, Zlatan Ibrahimovic's form looks pretty impressive. Including the Community Shield, he has scored six goals in 11 games for United. He has played the full 90 minutes in nine of those games, and he came on as a substitute for around 30 minutes in each of the other two.

However, he only has one goal in his last 470 minutes of football, and that came against Zorya Luhansk. During that time, he has taken 31 shots—plus the efforts he made during his cameo against Northampton Town in the EFL Cup, for which the data is not freely available.

Some of those were pretty speculative efforts, but there were plenty of presentable chances included in their number. He spurned an excellent chance at the beginning of the Stoke game—setting an unfortunate tone for the rest of that encounter.

Mourinho's attack is built around Ibrahimovic. There is nothing about the season so far that suggests that is a mistake in terms of his contribution to the team's attacking play in general. There are perhaps moments when a younger, quicker forward would be more effective in counter-attacking situations, but Ibrahimovic's otherworldly ball control and robust physical presence more than makes up for that.

Richard Heathcote/Getty Images

However, his team-mates need him to put away the chances they create for him. It seems likely a player of his ability will regain that form with a couple of confidence-boosting goals. Liverpool would be a great place to reignite his season.

The Balance of the Defence

United have kept three clean sheets in 11 games. One of those was against Zorya at home, another against Hull City away. Neither of those teams boasted particularly impressive attacks to shut out.

The third was against Southampton, a game in which the Red Devils were lucky to escape without conceding given the Saints had seven shots from inside the penalty area.

United are conceding an average of 10.7 shots per game in the league. Liverpool are the current gold standard in the division for keeping the number of shots they concede low—with their opposition getting off just 8.1 per game on average.

Mourinho needs to get his personnel right.

Other than a shaky game against Watford, Eric Bailly has been an impressive stalwart. Antonio Valencia is outperforming many fans' expectations at right-back.

The left-hand side of the defence, though, is more open to debate. Daley Blind started well at centre-back but failed his first significant test of the season, against Manchester City. He has since impressed at left-back, where Luke Shaw had struggled a little in the season's early going.

Chris Smalling's arrival in Blind's centre-back stead has hardly shored things up—the only clean sheet in which he participated was the game against Zorya.

United are peculiarly vulnerable to cutbacks from wingers into onrushing midfielders joining the attack. This happened twice against Watford—both resulting in goals. Though they did not score from it, that also happened against both Zorya and Stoke.

This specific problem could certainly rear its head against Liverpool and, given it features runners from midfield joining in with attacks, may be related to the next important factor to solve.

The Balance of Midfield

United's midfield has looked better since Mourinho dropped Wayne Rooney and sat Ander Herrera in a deep-lying midfield role alongside Paul Pogba. In the first halves of the games against Leicester and Stoke, this worked a treat, as United created plenty of chances while—for the most part—limiting their opposition's.

However, while it is definitely better, it is still not quite right. This is obviously a little subjective, but Pogba just looks like he is trying too hard, trying to prove himself worthy of the ridiculous sums of money involved in his transfer.

The £89 million man's performances for United so far bring to mind something Patrice Evra said about him during their time together at Juventus. Evra told La Gazzetta dello Sport (h/t Sam Morshead for MailOnline):

"

Pogba's problem is that he has too much quality,

When he makes a mistake he gets frustrated because everyone thinks a player of his calibre can't make a mistake. I always tell him to remain calm, work hard and listen to [head coach Massimiliano] Allegri.

He always asked for the ball against Bayern Munich [in last season's epic Champions League round-of-16 clash between the two sides].

We need people like that, but when he makes a mistake people only focus on that. We must let him work in peace.

"

"Too much quality," might seem like a good problem to have, but Evra's analysis here looks spot on. The idea that Pogba puts enormous pressure on himself given he knows what he is capable of would tally up with his time at United so far.

United's midfield will have to be particularly adroit in this game given Klopp's Liverpool will obviously set up to press them intensely. In a way, Pogba should be a good match for that style given how hard he is to dispossess. However, it is vitally important his midfield support system works.

He will need an outball available to him, and he will need defensive cover. It is not yet obvious that he will get both.

Of course, while plenty of question marks still hang over United's season, there are obvious positives too. Marcus Rashford's form has been excellent. Pogba is beginning to settle in. Mourinho has taken the big, obvious decision on Rooney that his predecessor, Louis van Gaal, did not. Anthony Martial got off the mark against Stoke, and the team created plenty of chances in that game.

The game against Liverpool comes at the start of a vicious run of fixtures that includes a trip to Chelsea and another visit from Guardiola's City. It is important the Red Devils demonstrate improvement against better opposition. The three issues above will go a long way to determining whether they do.

Quotations obtained firsthand where not otherwise stated.

Advanced data per WhoScored.com.