England: Manchester and Carrick in peril, Liverpool levitating

Manager Michael Carrick is on the brink of disaster after Manchester United's heavy defeat at home to Bournemouth on Sunday (3-0), a critical situation he shares with Frenchman Pierre Sage, who was beaten again with Crystal Palace.

Andoni Iraola had a big smile after Liverpool's show of force against Brighton (2-0), the exciting team of the early season, which his players tamed in a festive Anfield stadium.

Liverpool (4th, 15 pts) are now just one point off the podium, currently held by their visitors today (3rd, 16 pts). Joint leaders Manchester City and Arsenal each have 21 points after eight matchdays.

Far, far from those heights, Manchester United (16th, 7 pts) appears completely adrift on the pitch, just one point above the relegation zone. And its structure seems more fragile than ever behind the scenes.

On Sunday, Carrick left his captain and best player, Bruno Fernandes, on the bench, four days after a public statement from the Portuguese questioning his tactical approach.

The decision, "purely" sporting according to the coach, resembled an individual sanction. But it also transformed into a collective punishment, so keenly was the absence of the playmaker felt in the game.

The Red Devils, not sharp offensively, also crumbled at the back: on a free kick taken by Rayan, alone at the far post (38th, 0-1), after a slip by Leny Yoro which was exploited by Adrien Truffert, decisive pass for Marcus Tavernier (43rd, 0-2), then on a ball cleared by the opposing defence, perfectly dealt with by Evanilson (71st, 0-3).

- "Difficult situation" for Carrick -

"It's a difficult situation, let's not kid ourselves. What it looks like and what will follow, I really don't know. I will always do my best for this club and I'm not going to change now," Carrick told Sky Sports.

The club with twenty league titles is mired in a run of eight matches without a win in all competitions, an unprecedented dry spell since 2015-2016. And the future, in the short term, involves a perilous series of matches against Chelsea, Aston Villa and Liverpool.

The Reds, for their part, stifled a Brighton team whose attack had been rampant since the start of the season, and whose defensive robustness had materialized in five "clean sheets" (match without conceding a goal) before the trip to Anfield.

Florian Wirtz opened the scoring with a shot that was heavily deflected by Pascal Gross, after good work by Ronald Araujo on the right side (17th, 1-0).

The second goal came from the same side. French winger Bradley Barcola beat his compatriot Olivier Boscagli in a run and shoulder tackle and passed in the centre to Alexander Isak, who was full of composure and elegance when he made a subtle deflection with his left foot (21st, 2-0).

This is Iraola's first home win in the league, and Liverpool's sixth in the last seven matches in all competitions.

The atmosphere is much heavier at Crystal Palace (17th, 7 pts), with a completely opposite dynamic and on the verge of the relegation zone.

South London's Eagles suffered a fifth defeat in eight Premier League games against Newcastle (2-0) at home, putting French coach Pierre Sage under pressure.