Rashford is then all alone as Manchester United come forward en masse, but Bruno Fernandes, for once, gets his pass wrong, curling it too close to Ryan Gravenberch and allowing the Dutchman to get a toe in.

A quarterback pass forward from Casemiro tries to find Marcus Rashford up the middle, and a little bit of check from the surface keeps the left winger in the hunt. Alisson is wise to the threat, though, out of his area quickly to head out of play.

A first missive of the afternoon from Miguel Delaney, watching on for us at Old Trafford: “An open game so far, where Liverpool currently looking sharper. They've got more control and are pressing United further up the pitch, which of course led to that goal ruled out for offside. There was one of a few occasions where they've surged through the centre of United's team a bit too easily, which won't come as a shock to people. This is why they need Ugarte, who was presented to the Old Trafford crowd before kick-off. There have been a few breaks, though, where Liverpool look susceptible to United's pace.”

The crowd whistle their disapproval as Mainoo waits to be allowed to return by the referee, the home fans’ angst not helped by their team giving theb all away in a dangerous area. Matthijs de Ligt steps out strongly to ensure no further damage is done.

With Mainoo back amongst things, Joshua Zirkzee is booked for pulling back a Liverpool player. Anthony Taylor brandishes the card to few complaints.

Mohamed Salah extricates himself from three Manchester United defenders, legs tangled like mangrove roots but Salah somehow escaping with the ball. He can’t make anything of the possession but that was lovely footwork.

Kobbie Mainoo has taken a bang to the head, which is reason for concern. Thankfully, he seems alright, though the medic will make totally certain before permitting the midfielder to return.

Pulled back to no-one! Bruno Fernandes wins possession and arcs a curvaceous pass with the outside of his boot for Alejandro Garnacho. There’s only really Marcus Rashford to aim for, though, so Garnacho cuts back to the ‘D’, assuming that someone might be there to fire it goalwards. Alas, there are only Liverpool shirts occupying the space, and Ryan Gravernberch mops up.

It is a little bit damp in Manchester today, though the players seem to be enjoying the moist surface, using it effectively to zip their passes about so far. Noussair Mazraoui stays with Luis Diaz really well as the Colombian peels infield to try and spark something from deeper.

Trent Alexander-Arnold celebrated a la Steven Gerrard here with a kiss of a camera, a stolen smooch that’ll ultimately be forgotten. A shame.

There’s a frantic energy about this first 10 minutes, and it has only been enriched by that early goal that wasn’t. There were a couple of lovely passes in the build-up to that Alexander-Arnold moment, Ryan Gravenberch taking one of them quite delightfully before producing one of his own.

A flowing move forward and Trent Alexander-Arnold scores...just!

And there’s an offside check, too...and it’s ruled out! Mohamed Salah was offside when Luis Diaz squared it, and though Alexander-Arnold fired it into Diogo Dalot just beyond the line, his goal is chalked off thanks to Salah’s small touch on the way through to the right-back.

Dalot had done well to get into blocking position but the ball clearly crossed, as goalline technology quickly confirmed - but it’s the other technological advancement that counts against Liverpool, a relatively speedy VAR check showing Salah off.