Liverpool can only watch on enviously at one elite trait Erik ten Hag has instilled, but Jürgen Klopp will soon be able to emulate the Marcus Rashford threat.
Last week, Liverpool’s arch-rival Manchester United beat Barcelona 2-1 to book a place in the Europa League round of 16. It has since triumphed in the Carabao Cup final against Newcastle United, but it is the continental outing that offers a more telling insight into the task now facing Jürgen Klopp.
The first leg at Camp Nou had finished as a 2-2 draw, with Marcus Rashford and a Jules Koundé own goal canceling out strikes from Marcos Alonso and Raphinha. The Red Devils then found themselves trailing on aggregate at half-time in the second leg after Robert Lewandowski’s penalty.
But Fred would equalize for Erik ten Hag’s side shortly after the interval, before Antony scored what proved to be the winner in the closing stages.
Ten Hag had left the latter out of the line-up but opted to bring him on at the break in place of Wout Weghorst, and he got his rewards. As it turns out, this is part of a recurring theme at Old Trafford this season, one which Liverpool really needs to seek to replicate.
Manchester United’s 19 goals from substitutes
It was the 19th time a substitute has scored for Manchester United this season in all competitions, the most of any team in Europe’s big five leagues.
Rashford has been the most prolific off the bench, netting six times, while Anthony Martial has chipped in with four after entering the fray.
Jadon Sancho and Alejandro Garnacho have also scored as substitutes on more than one occasion, while midfielder Fred has surprisingly popped up a couple of times too. Cristiano Ronaldo, Antony and Scott McTominay round off the list with one apiece.
How is Liverpool faring in this department? Well, first off, it’s worth noting that it has played three fewer games than Manchester United up to this point.
But that doesn’t account for the scale of the deficit, with the Reds a full eight goals behind.
Liverpool’s 11 goals from substitutes
Mohamed Salah is the joint leader, having scored the fastest hat-trick in Champions League history after coming on against Rangers in October.
Alongside him sits Darwin Núñez, who made two goal-scoring cameos in his first two appearances against Manchester City and Fulham before finding the net off the bench against Napoli too/
Fábio Carvalho’s goal in the 9-0 rout of Bournemouth, followed by his last-gasp winner against Newcastle United just three days later, puts him third on the list. Roberto Firmino, Harvey Elliott and Stefan Bajčetić have all netted once from the bench.
Part of the reason why Liverpool is lagging so far behind Manchester United is that injuries have hit the attacking ranks hard, often denying Jurgen Klopp much firepower on his bench.
Salah and January signing Cody Gakpo have been injury free, but Núñez has missed a cumulative seven matches (albeit three of them because of suspension), and Roberto Firmino 11 after a six-week lay-off post-World Cup.
Most notably, Diogo Jota has hardly been available this season, missing 23 matches, and Luis Díaz has sat out 24 after a protracted absence stretching back to October.
Now that Jota and Firmino have returned, though, and Díaz may only be a couple of weeks away from joining them, Liverpool can start to emulate Manchester United again.
Remarkably across the club’s past 14 Premier League games, only Bajčetić has scored after the 50th minute, with an 81st-minute strike to seal a 3-1 win over Aston Villa on Boxing Day. It’s a stat (courtesy of Paul Joyce in Saturday’s edition of The Times) that makes for grim reading.
But as it welcomes back its full complement of attackers, Liverpool can finally restore the late goals that were a defining feature of this team in its pomp.
