The dust is settling on Liverpool's pulsating draw with Manchester United over the weekend, and although many Reds fans will be disappointed with the outcome having expected their team to inflict another humiliating defeat on United, soccer is rarely that simple.

Much of the pre-match build-up centered around how many goals Arne Slot's men would win by, rather than if they would win; for many, victory over United was a foregone conclusion. It wasn't just fans, either, with plenty of pundits predicting a healthy Liverpool win. Alan Shearer said: "I can’t see any other outcome than a Liverpool victory and scoring a few goals in the process."

Chris Sutton, meanwhile, tipped Liverpool to win 5-0, saying: "Liverpool are in a different stratosphere at the moment and I feel sorry for Amorim because this is going to be another painful afternoon for him."

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In fairness, it was entirely logical to back Liverpool to win well: the Reds had won four in a row heading into the game, and United had lost four in a row. But, despite the visiting team's struggles, one thing United has been good at in recent years is producing a performance when the manager's and the players' backs are against the wall — and that's exactly what happened on Sunday.

And while that might have come as a surprise to most, one person who won't have been surprised by what Liverpool came up against on Sunday is Virgil van Dijk. Liverpool has released some behind-the-scenes footage from Sunday's match, and shortly prior to kick-off, Van Dijk issued a rallying cry to his teammates: "It's always gonna be tough today boys and we all know that and we are all prepared. Let's go."

Van Dijk was acutely aware that Sunday's match was unlikely to be the walkover that many predicted it would be and made sure to remind his teammates of that. Despite failing to win, the Reds remain in a strong position in the Premier League table, sitting six points clear of Nottingham Forest and Arsenal in second and third respectively, and having played one fewer game than both teams.