18 December 2023 , 05:00
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Gary Neville has declared that the atmosphere at Anfield on Sunday was the worst he's ever experienced for a match between Liverpool and Manchester United there.
Despite the goalless Premier League game being watched by the largest Anfield crowd for more than 60 years, Neville was surprised by the apparent lack of noise. Liverpool were able to welcome 57,158 spectators after partially opening their extended Anfield Road End stand for the fixture, a renovation which cost £80million and has endured a number of delays. The last time that more people watched a match at Anfield was the FA Cup tie against Burnley in February 1963.
That only added to former United captain Neville's shock, who remarked during the game on Sky Sports: "I have to say, this is by far the worst atmosphere I've ever seen at Anfield for a Manchester United game. It's really, really quiet so far, other than the first five minutes where they were up for it."
Post-match, the ex-Red Devils right-back affirmed his view. "The atmosphere was the worst I've seen at Anfield ever for a Liverpool-Manchester United game," Neville declared.
"I've always been complimentary of Liverpool fans but it's the quietest crowd I've seen in this game. I think there was maybe a little bit of overconfidence before the game, with people wearing Christmas jumpers with 7-0 on them and stuff like that!" he added, referencing fellow pundit Jamie Carragher's new piece of attire made especially ahead of the match.
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Liverpool's third-largest ever crowd for a league fixture witnessed a dull encounter, with Diogo Dalot's bizarre sending off in the 94th minute coming as the main moment of drama. United defender Dalot was booked for two counts of dissent in the space of a few seconds.
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Liverpool spent £80million to upgrade their Anfield Road End, which was partially opened against Manchester United (Nick Taylor/Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)Discussing United's performance and their resilience to secure a much-needed draw, easing the pressure on manager Erik ten Hag, Neville added: "It'll be a huge relief to Erik ten Hag because it's been a horrible week, with what happened against Bournemouth, going out of the Champions League with an inept performance against Bayern Munich.
"Today, there was no doubt the clouds were circling and there was no Manchester United fan, including myself, that thought United would come out of here alive. Liverpool have been poor, well below par in this game. Their final third play was awful. Well done to them for showing a little bit of fight. To get a point here and a clean sheet is an unexpected result."