Ronaldo, Maguire dropped by Man Utd boss Ten Hag for Liverpool clash

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag responded to an embarrassing 4-0 thrashing at Brentford by dropping Cristiano Ronaldo and captain Harry Maguire for the visit of Liverpool on Monday.

Ten Hag made four changes in all with Luke Shaw and Fred also dropping out for Raphael Varane, Tyrell Malacia, Scott McTominay and Anthony Elanga.

Casemiro is in attendance at Old Trafford ahead of formalising his move from Real Madrid, but the Brazil midfielder was not registered in time to make his debut.

Ten Hag is looking to get off the mark after becoming the first United manager in more than 100 years to lose his first two games in charge.

United had started the weekend rooted to the bottom of the Premier League table, but were edged up to 19th by West Ham’s 2-0 defeat to Brighton on Sunday.

Liverpool won the two clashes with United 5-0 and 4-0 last season, but are also badly in need of their first league win of the season to close the gap on leaders Arsenal and defending champions Manchester City.

Jurgen Klopp’s men have drawn their first two games of the season against Fulham and Crystal Palace.