Juan Mata's cross, Marouane Fellaini's header off the bar, Wayne Rooney's accurate finish off the rebound. That was what it took for Manchester United to beat Liverpool at Anfield back in January 2016, but they return to Merseyside on Sunday having still never won on the turf off their old rivals since that day.
In the interim, Jurgen Klopp - whose first game against United as Liverpool boss was that 1-0 defeat seven years ago - has led his side to an unblemished record on home soil. But Sunday's match provides arguably the biggest threat to that record in some years with United on the up under Erik ten Hag and the Reds struggling to battle their way back into Champions League contention.
So as United go in search of a win once more at Anfield, The Sportsman looks at those who were on the field the last time the Red Devils succeeded in leaving with three points, and what on earth they've been up to since that day seven years back.
LIVERPOOL
Simon Mignolet
Untouchable at Anfield for three years, he was then replaced by Loris Karius and ultimately by Alisson Becker. Now Club Brugge's first choice of four years standing.
Nathaniel Clyne
His form for Southampton and then Liverpool won him 14 England caps, but he suffered a long-term back injury and Trent Alexander-Arnold emerged as his long-term replacement. That prompted a return to Crystal Palace, with whom he has against struggled to feature with great regularity.
READ MORE:
- The six teams from the fourth tier or lower to reach the FA Cup quarters
- What are the odds Man Utd will win multiple trophies?
- Man Utd 7/4 to end seven-year Anfield drought - Betfred*
Kolo Toure
After lengthy spells with Arsenal and Manchester City, Toure pulled a decent shift at Liverpool but his career was winding down. He joined Brendan Rodgers at Celtic for his final playing stint, then was assistant manager for Rodgers at Celtic and Leicester City until a recent short-lived reign as Wigan Athletic manager.
Mamadou Sakho
The France international headed to Crystal Palace on loan for the 2016-17 season following controversy over a failed doping test in which he was deemed to have shown positive for a fat-burner. He stayed at Selhurst Park for another four years thereafter before heading to Montpellier.
Alberto Moreno
An often-pilloried member of the Liverpool set-up and owner of a tattoo depicting a gun-toting, headphone-wearing chimpanzee, Moreno left Anfield in 2019 for Villarreal and would score one of the penalties as El Submarino Amarillo beat Man Utd in the 2021 Europa League final.
Jordan Henderson
Alex Ferguson had a problem with Henderson because he "ran from his knees, with a straight back", but the Liverpool captain has gone on to win a much sought-after Premier League, a Champions League, two League Cups, an FA Cup, a Uefa Super Cup and a Club World Cup. He might run from his knees, but he lifts trophies with his hands.
Emre Can
The German midfielder spent four years at Anfield, then 18 months with Juventus, becoming a Serie A champion in the process. Now at Borussia Dortmund, he is part of a side pushing to dethrone Bayern Munich.
Lucas Leiva
A regular feature at Liverpool for 10 years, he was then a key part of Lazio's midfield until the summer of 2022 when he signed an 18-month deal with Brazilian side Gremio.
James Milner
This was Milner's first season at Anfield after his free transfer from Manchester City, but it is as a Liverpool player that he has become most remembered thanks to a versatility few realised he had in him. As a midfielder or a fulkl-back, the former England star has won everything there is to win as a Red.
Roberto Firmino
One of Brendan Rodgers' final signings, Firmino has become a massive part of Liverpool's successful period with his sensational link play in the final third. He has found his game-time limited in recent times but he is no less important to the Anfield set-up.
Adam Lallana
After six years in L4 which saw him become a great success but also pick up a number of frustrating injuries, Lallana has found further improvement in his game with Brighton & Hove Albion, who sat just two places and four points behind Liverpool with two games in hand going into the weekend's action.
Jordon Ibe
A 15-year-old debutant with Wycombe Wanderers, Ibe's longest club stint was with Bournemouth between 2016 and 2020, but after a single appearance for Derby County the winger spoke of struggles with depression and has since seen a three-and-a-half-year contract with Adanaspor in Turkey cut short after he was released in late 2022.
Christian Benteke
Benteke was Liverpool's second most expensive player in history when he arrived in 2015 and had scored a sensational goal in the 3-1 defeat at Old Trafford earlier in 2015-16, but Rodgers' departure and Jurgen Klopp's desire to play a different type of football was the death knell for his Anfield spell. He spent six years at Crystal Palace from 2016, and then headed to Wayne Rooney's DC United late last year.
Steven Caulker
A centre-back turned emergency striker, Caulker was thrown on against United with Liverpool chasing the game. He has since bounced around clubs, spending three years with three different clubs in Turkey before signing for his old team-mate Kolo Toure at Wigan in January shortly before the Ivorian's sacking.
MANCHESTER UNITED
David De Gea
This game came only a few months after the whole fax machine saga with Real Madrid and there was still widespread belief the Spain goalkeeper would be off to the Bernabeu before long. But seven years later he is a United number one of over 500 games standing, and with 12 more appearances will claim the position for most games played by a keeper in the club's history.
Ashley Young
A winger with Watford and Aston Villa, Louis van Gaal turned him into a full-back and even a striker for United. Went on to become the club captain at Old Trafford for a brief spell before signing for Inter Milan and winning a Serie A title. He's now back at Villa playing pretty regularly for a 37-year-old.
Chris Smalling
With 55 appearances to his name, this was the season in which Smalling featured most for Manchester United, his partnership at the back with Daley Blind being a constant in an otherwise chaotic United season. Surprisingly loaned to Roma by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in 2019, he has since made the Italian capital home to great success.
Daley Blind
A Van Gaal signing, Blind stuck around longer than many might have imagined under Jose Mourinho. But after two years with the Portuguese at Old Trafford he headed back to his childhood club Ajax and just this January made a shock move to Bayern Munich after being made a free agent by the Godenzonen.
Matteo Darmian
An Italy international of reasonable repute after making his name with Torino, Darmian never enjoyed great success at United beyond a couple of belligerent displays in rearguard performances under Jose Mourinho. Back in the Bel Paese he had a spell with Parma and has since won a league title with current club Inter.
Morgan Schneiderlin
A fantastic success with Southampton, Schneiderlin's career has never really recovered from his struggles at United. After failing to win favour with Jose Mourinho, he was sold to Everton and then spent a couple of years with Nice, who recently loaned him to Australian A-League side Western Sydney Wanderers.
Marouane Fellaini
Signed as a route-one option and used - remarkably - almost exclusively as a defensive midfielder during his United spell, Fellaini was a polarising figure for five-and-a-half years at Old Trafford. Eventually offloaded by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in early 2019, he has spent the last four years in China with Shandong Taishan.
Jesse Lingard
Having just broken into the Manchester United side under Louis van Gaal, few could have envisaged the regular role Lingard would play for the club over the next six years. Initially playing off the wing, the England international went on to command the number 10 role for a while under Jose Mourinho and also saw significant game time when Solskjaer was manager. After 232 games he signed for Nottingham Forest last summer.
Ander Herrera
A huge hit with United fans, Herrera spent five years at Old Trafford before turning down a new deal in 2019 and instead signing a lucrative contract with Paris Saint-Germain. After three years in France, he returned to hometown club Athletic Bilbao this season.
Anthony Martial
Having arrived on the scene as a 19-year-old with a debut goal against Liverpool in the September game at Old Trafford, Martial had been switched to the left wing by the time United headed to Anfield. He has never quite found his place with United despite 283 career appearances now for the Red Devils.
Wayne Rooney
The match-winner at Anfield was just 18 months away from his Old Trafford exit, as it turned out. United's all-time top goalscorer - and still England's for now - Rooney had a season back at Everton before heading Stateside to DC United. Returned to be player-coach and later manager at Derby County but is now back at DC as the man in charge.
Cameron Borthwick-Jackson
A peculiar story in the United side of this time. Turned in some excellent displays in his 14 appearances in 2015-16, leading Louis van Gaal to approve a four-year £20,000 deal which basically ended up tying the full-back down to loan deals and youth team spells until the summer of 2020. After signing permanently for Oldham Athletic he then moved on to Burton Albion, where he has been a regular for the past 18 months.
Juan Mata
A massive fan favourite at Old Trafford, Mata spent eight-and-a-half years with United under five different managers. Was never quite a guaranteed starter after his first couple of years, but always threatened to provide something special and was willing to play a bit-part in later seasons. His two goals at Anfield the season before this fixture were his lasting legacy. Now playing for Galatasaray.
Memphis Depay
Oh Memphis. He just never got going at Old Trafford amid all sorts of talk about how he liked to live his life off the field. He was sold to Lyon after 18 months and managed to rebuild his reputation in France, earning a move to Barcelona as a pseudo-replacement for Lionel Messi in 2021. After struggling for game time earlier in the season, Depay signed for Atletico Madrid in January 2023.
*18+ | BeGambleAware | Odds Subject To Change
