Hello and welcome to the game podcast from The Times I'm Natalie Sawyer and

I'm Gregor Robertson we're here with you twice a week throughout the season for

all the best reaction and

analysis from some of the best football writers in the business.

Joining us today in the studio it is the Times' very own James Gerebrandt coming up we'll

look ahead to another busy week of Champions League action, but first to Old Trafford.

And before we get on to our lovely old friend VAR, let's take a look at the match as a whole,

as Adam Nalana's Lake Equalizer saved a point for an under par

Liverpool as they drew one all at Manchester United. Away from the controversy that is

VAR, Liverpool without most Sala looked unusually nervy with Marcus Rashford and

Daniel James causing them defensive problems up and down the flanks.

Now the result moves United into 13th, seven points off the top 4, while Liverpool see their lead at the top cut to 6 points and it of course ends their winning streak in the league, halted now at 17 games in a row, one victory short of equoing Manchester City's record.

But James, does this result prove Liverpool lack a strength in depth in any way?

I didn't think Liverpool played very well at all, certainly not for the first

kind of hour of the match. I thought it was so kind of so funny watching this match and you're talking about a team in Liverpool who are I think probably

one of the two best teams in Europe, the two best most well coached teams in Europe obviously European champions obviously as we all know on this

incredibly long winning streak in the Premier League and it just for me was kind of a snapshot into how frustrating it must be to coach a team

because even at that kind of, you know, peak of excellence that Liverpool are at.

The team actually really didn't function very well for the first kind of hour of this

match. They look really kind of uncertain as to how didn't really kind of have a sort of method of, you know, means of creating chances, didn't really kind of have a sort of method of you know means of creating chances

didn't really know how they were going to kind of progress the ball into the kind of

of you know into the penalty box into the final third you know you sort of ended up with kind of Alexander Arnold kind of crossing it

...