The Reds were forced to settle for a point against Man United despite taking a second half lead. Steven Gerrard returned to the starting line up for the game and capped his display off with a fine free kick through a parting wall.
On a bright sunny day at Anfield the Reds attacked the Anny Road end in the first half with a packed midfield which evened itself up against United who gambled on a stronger midfield than last season.
The Reds started slightly the better side for me as they looked to push forward without really troubling the United back line.
United looked to get the ball up to Welbeck as soon as they could but Skrtel was more than a match for him winning most of the balls in the air.
All in though the first half wasn't a great one with both sides really cancelling each other out in the midfield.
The Reds did have a few chances and none better than one which fell to Suarez in the box. He managed to turn his man in the box but with only De Gea to beat he hit his shot straight at him.
Lucas picked up a yellow card just short of the half hour as United broke at speed and with the Brazilian struggling to get back he hacked Park down and the yellow was inevitable.
Ashley Young also saw a yellow card in the first half for a tackle on Gerrard - it could just as easily have been Evra as the two players joined together to block his track in to the box.
The second half couldn't have been much worse than the first in terms of true quality but it did take a goal to really wake the game up.
The Reds attacked the Kop in the second half and although they were the better side for me they just never supported Suarez enough up top. It was one thing being better in midfield but we needed to get more support to Suarez at a faster speed.
Rio Ferdinand picked up a yellow card on fifty three minutes when he hacked through the back of Luis Suarez. Somehow he still though it was harsh when he saw the card despite coming through the back of Suarez.
As the game was being heavily contested in midfield and Lucas was on a booking the Reds made a change with Henderson replacing him in midfield.
The Reds were trying to up the pace a little bit more now but United were holding firm. After an argument in the box between Suarez and Evra the ref warned them to calm down. It didn't seem to calm Evra down who gets very easily wound up. On the way to the next play he had a go at Kuyt and the ref duly booked him.
A couple of minutes later and Ferdinand was lucky to stay on for me as he took Charlie Adam down in full flight. I'm sure the ref would have booked him had not already been booked so for me he bottled this one.
After the break to get everything sorted Steven Gerrard lined up the free kick and bent it through a splitting wall in to the bottom corner with De Gea rooted to his spot.
United reacted straight away and sent on Rooney and Nani to bolster them up front a bit more and they of course needed to score now. This opened the game up a lot more now.
The Reds coped well though with the change and looked relatively comfortable. United sent on Hernandez to replace Jones which gave them even more up front.
With the Reds coping quite well by now United tried to attack that bit more and eventually it paid off as Hernandez swept home a corner ball which bobbled its way through the six yard box. Say what you like but that was terrible defending to let the ball that far through the box.
With just nine minutes left in the game it was a question now about who would gamble on getting the three points. Neither side over committed really although the Reds did force two great saves out of De Gea late on. First Kuyt prodded a Downing cross on goal only for the keeper to get across in time then with minutes to go he tipped a looping shot from Henderson wide. It was a great shot and great save. It would have been interesting had that shot been six inches higher.
Jordan Henderson could have won it late on as well when he headed on to the roof of the net and the best chance fell sadly to Skrtel as the Reds caused havoc in their area. The ball fell to an un-marked Skrtel four yards out on the volley but there's one man in that squad you don't want it falling too and that's Skrtel. He skied the volley high in to the Kop.
Overall it was probably fair overall to finish as a draw even though my rose tints do think that we created some good chances. That's our problem though - we need to take these chances when they come or good sides will make you pay.
MotM : Steven Gerrard - for a first start in several months he played really well and did really well in midfield with very little getting beyond him.
