Manchester United vs. Liverpool: Rating Liverpool Players Post-Loss, Suarez Goal

Liverpool saw their four-match unbeaten run come to an end at Old Trafford against Manchester United as the away players produced an inept and limp second half display to hand victory to their huge rivals.

Wayne Rooney scored twice in the first five minutes of the second period to set United comfortably clear, and a late Luis Suarez reply was nowhere near enough for Liverpool to warrant taking any points off the home team.

Much of the pre-match chat had centred on the returning Suarez coming face to face with United defender Patrice Evra, but on-pitch clashes between the two were few and far between, though Evra succeeded in chopping down team-mate Rio Ferdinand while trying to tackle the Uruguayan.

Three attacking substitutions from Kenny Dalglish in an attempt to get Liverpool back into the game failed to have any meaningful impact, and Liverpool passed up the chance to gain ground on fourth place without much of a fight.

Here are the ratings (out of 10) for the Liverpool players on the day.

Goalkeeper: Pepe Reina

Pepe Reina was largely untroubled in the first half of the match at Old Trafford, with just the odd shot from distance or cross from wide areas to deal with, though he was called upon to make one sharp stop with a Paul Scholes header from close range beaten away with his fists.

Before he had even had a chance to get settled after the half time break, however, he was beaten by a fierce Wayne Rooney volley after a corner was flicked on.

The next time the duo came face-to-face it was 2-0 United, with Rooney this time slipping the ball through Reina's legs, who will perhaps feel he might have done better in that situation.

The game from then on continued much as it had done, with United peppering Reina's goal with the odd shot or cross but to no real effect.

Clearly though, the damage had already been done.

Reina was also not at his best in terms of distribution in the game against Manchester United.

Pepe Reina: 6 / 10

Full-Backs: Glen Johnson and Jose Enrique

A game of contrasting performances from the two Liverpool full-backs.

Glen Johnson, reverting to right-back following his game against Spurs on the left, was largely solid at the back and dealt well with most of his one-on-one duals.

Ryan Giggs did get space down that flank a couple of times to get crosses over, but all in all Johnson did well. For the first goal, however, Johnson came off his post and was meant to get close to Rooney—but he failed, running the wrong side of the forward and allowing Rooney to hit an unchallenged shot into the back of the net.

In attack, Johnson was actually probably Liverpool's best player. He made a few early forays down the right flank, cutting in to shoot with his left foot—one chance of which bounced just wide of the far post—and late in the game almost picked up an equaliser with a shot that David de Gea had to palm over the crossbar.

Jose Enrique, on the other side...well.

Antonio Valencia got the better of him early on and the Spaniard never got to grips with the winger, allowing him past on the outside time after time and not tracking the Ecuadorian on the occasions he went infield.

Jose Enrique's passing was also way off-radar, and he never delivered any telling cross in the final third. Disappointing.

Glen Johnson: 7 / 10

Jose Enrique: 5 / 10

Central Defenders: Martin Skrtel and Daniel Agger

Liverpool's defensive duo of the last few months, Martin Skrtel and Daniel Agger, have been in imperious form recently, claiming the second-best defensive record in the Premier League prior to the match against Manchester United.

Against United, however, they were not always afforded the protection they have been given in previous matches as Liverpool never looked like winning the midfield battle or showing enough energy in the middle third of the pitch.

Individually, they were more or less fine; they stood up to any aerial challenges and were not bested by Wayne Rooney on the ground in the first half, though one Danny Welbeck run left Agger grounded before the resulting shot went wide.

After the first goal though, Jay Spearing losing the ball in midfield left them woefully exposed and Wayne Rooney took full advantage of the extra space.

Neither player managed to make their presence felt unduly at the opposite end of the pitch from set pieces, though Skrtel volleyed over via a deflection and Agger cracked a shot from range well wide of the post.

Martin Skrtel: 7 / 10

Daniel Agger: 6 / 10

Central Midfield: Jay Spearing and Steven Gerrard

Fingers will be pointed at Jay Spearing for cheaply conceding possession for Liverpool in the build-up to Manchester United's telling second goal, but this should not overshadow what was a poor midfield performance in general from Liverpool, and what had been a not-too-bad one from Spearing himself in the first half.

The Scouser had broken up play and made a few feisty tackles in the first half, kept passing simple and providing a good shield for the defence as United were restricted to very few chances.

After the break United scored from an immediate corner and then, after Spearing's ill-judged turn and attempted pass, a quick-fire second.

From that point on it was hugely uphill for Liverpool and it was the responsibility of the midfield as a whole to up the tempo for the away side, which they failed to do.

Spearing was withdrawn as part of a double substitution just around the hour.

Alongside him, Steven Gerrard again filled the more withdrawn role, having played further forward against Spurs.

Gerrard was largely on the periphery of the game despite some early chances to get his passing rhythm going, and could not contribute in a huge way as he has done previously for Liverpool at Old Trafford.

Even later on when Liverpool were chasing the game, the captain was sitting deep and very withdrawn, starting passing moves from inside his own half rather than trying to force the game near the United penalty area where he is so effective.

Undoubtedly a coaching decision rather than his own one, but the wrong one nonetheless and he has to take his share of the blame for a very low-key centre of the park performance from the Reds.

Jay Spearing: 6 / 10

Steven Gerrard: 6 / 10

Wide Midfielders: Dirk Kuyt and Stewart Downing

If the centre of Liverpool's midfield was poor, in the wide areas of the pitch they were desperate.

Questions will be asked as to why Craig Bellamy was not given a starting berth, but regardless, Stewart Downing and Dirk Kuyt were utterly woeful on the ball and not much better off it.

Kuyt at least did his usual tracking back and stopping Patrice Evra from getting forward too often, and initially linked up well with Luis Suarez and Glen Johnson down the right side. But he failed to deliver any telling passes or crosses and certainly never looked like getting into dangerous positions such as his match-winning one at Anfield against the same opposition two weeks ago.

On the left, Stewart Downing was simply awful.

He never once ran at Rafael in the Manchester United defence, he rarely tracked back to help Jose Enrique who was having a difficult time against Antonio Valencia, and his delivery from wide areas on the ball was next to non-existent.

Neither player attempted to make runs in behind the United defence to stretch the play or give the deeper midfielders an outlet to pass to, and neither did they offer any great support in central attacking areas.

Both players were substituted and neither can have any complaints about being dropped from the starting 11 for the next game.

Dirk Kuyt: 6 / 10

Stewart Downing: 4 / 10

"Attacking" Midfield: Jordan Henderson

Attacking midfielder—presumably, that is.

After a few weeks of improved performances in a Liverpool shirt, Jordan Henderson was back to looking like a lost boy on the pitch as he produced arguably his most anonymous display of the season.

Henderson neither supported Luis Suarez in attack nor his central midfielders Jay Spearing and Steven Gerrard in defensive duties; he did not attempt to link up with the wider players and he certainly wasn't the focal point for any Liverpool attacks, or even counters on the break.

The game totally bypassed Henderson who had no impact on the first half and only two notable instances of being involved in the second. Firstly, inadvertently heading a Manchester United corner onto Wayne Rooney to open the scoring, and secondly, sending a dangerous-looking cross over from the right flank towards Luis Suarez as the game ticked down.

A really disappointing performance from the No.14, who though, wasn't able to get into the game easily, also didn't take it upon himself to find the extra energy to force himself upon the United midfielders and impose himself on the play.

An all-round bad day for Liverpool's midfield.

Jordan Henderson: 4 / 10

Forward: Luis Suarez

In his first start since Boxing Day following two separate suspensions, Luis Suarez made a goalscoring return to the Liverpool line-up but was unable to prevent his side falling to defeat against Manchester United.

Suarez is clearly a game or two short of full sharpness as his touch was a little off, and his ability to burst past players at pace was still a step or two short of top-level. But he was still one of the few dangerous players in a Liverpool shirt.

In the early minutes of the first half, his movement and willingness to spread the ball about, caused a few issues for United, but ultimately he was starved of service and support to have a chance at creating any real havoc.

He had an early opportunity to cross to Stewart Downing but opted to turn inside instead, losing possession as he did so, in one of his few on-the-ball moments in the United box.

Suarez almost scampered away towards goal in the second half but Rio Ferdinand made a good challenge to deny him free passage.

The same defender, however, presented Suarez with an easy chance to pull a goal back for Liverpool as he failed to clear a free kick, which Suarez dispatched from inside the six-yard box.

A late header from close range went over the bar, but Suarez was flagged offside anyway, and with it went any chance Liverpool had of salvaging an unlikely point.

Luis Suarez: 7 / 10

Substitutes: Craig Bellamy, Andy Carroll and Charlie Adam

At 2-0 down around the hour mark, Kenny Dalglish called on forwards Craig Bellamy and Andy Carroll to lead the Liverpool charge to get back into the game.

Unfortunately neither could have any meaningful impact on the match, with Bellamy only getting the odd chance to run down the left flank and send over a corner, while Carroll appeared to struggle to even get into the right frame mind for the game, being beaten aerially by pint-sized Rafael and misreading the intentions of passes from his teammates.

Charlie Adam came on with 15 minutes remaining and put himself about in the middle at least, which was something, but he had barely any time to offer up anything meaningful and too many of his teammates were never at the races against Manchester United.

Adam did send over the free kick which led to Liverpool's goal, but that was all the away team could muster.

Craig Bellamy: 6 / 10

Andy Carroll: 5 / 10

Charlie Adam: 6 / 10

Unused subs: Doni, Jamie Carragher, Martin Kelly, Jonjo Shelvey.