Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho claims Liverpool deserve criticism for performance

Jose Mourinho rubbished concerns over Manchester United's possession stats at Liverpool by insisting Jurgen Klopp's side deserved more criticism.

United enjoyed just 35 per cent of possession in their goalless draw at Anfield - their lowest in a Premier League game for 13 years. Mourinho claimed after the game they actually had 42 per cent but match data issued by Opta stated it was 35 per cent.

David de Gea made two phenomenal saves from Emre Can and Philippe Coutinho in the second-half, having made a simple stop in the first period, but Mourinho was keen to highlight how little Liverpool worked the Spaniard over the course of the 90 minutes.

"Look, last season United won here," Mourinho said. "Liverpool had 14 shots on target and United had one. How many shots on target did Liverpool have today? Two? Two shots with 65 per cent of possession. You have to be critical of Liverpool, not of us, because 65 per cent and two shots, it is their problem, not our problem.

"I think the team was perfect. Even the goalkeeper was on holiday for 90 minutes but he had two big saves to do and he did."

Mourinho also felt Liverpool's decision to pair Jordan Henderson with Can was 'cautious', a tactic enforced on Klopp by Giorgino Wijnaldum's unavailability due to injury.

"We stopped them to play, but they also did very well by the defensive point of view," Mourinho said. "They played Can and Henderson for some reason, and they did that for 90 minutes, so they normally project more players in attack.

"They were very cautious, they kept always Can and Henderson in position, they had only one player behind the three more offensive players, so I think it was that intention to try and control us, which they also did well.

"I think it was a good performance, difficult match for us and for them and I think we controlled the game tactically and we controlled the game emotionally, and it's not easy to do both things in here.

"The result I think is acceptable, we wanted more for long periods in the game we thought that we could be positive but we didn't score and we don't score we don't win, but I think a very positive performance."