Ferdinand breaks his silence on Liverpool 'massacre' after pre-match Man Utd prediction backfires

Rio Ferdinand has broken his silence on Manchester United's humiliating defeat to Liverpool.

Erik ten Hag's side were thrashed 7-0 at Anfield on Sunday, the visitors' worst competitive defeat in more than 90 years.

Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez and Cody Cakpo all scored twice for Liverpool before Roberto Firmino completed a remarkable victory for the home side.

The result moved Jurgen Klopp's men to within three points of the Champions League places and all but ended United's hopes of winning the Premier League title this season.

Before the game, former United defender Ferdinand was confident the Red Devils would emerge victorious.

"Nervous? This is the most confident I've been going into a Liverpool fixture for the last six or seven years," Ferdinand told BT Sport.

"I think Man United are on the up whereas Liverpool have stagnated and taken a couple of steps backwards.

"They've been on a formidable run the last few years, but they aren't the Liverpool team that we've seen the last few years at the moment.

"What a time to go to Anfield, it's the best place to win as a Man United player."

Ferdinand breaks silence on Liverpool defeat

Ferdinand has now spoken for the first time since his pre-match prediction spectacularly backfired.

"We've been pulverised," said Ferdinand, speaking on his YouTube channel FIVE.

"That was a massacre. An absolute massacre at Anfield.

"That's all you can call it. The players will be feeling embarrassed."

Ten Hag reportedly made his United players sit in silence in the dressing room after the defeat at Anfield so that they were forced to listen to the Liverpool players celebrate their historic victory.

The Dutchman will be hoping for an immediate response from his side when they next face Real Betis in the first leg of their Europa League round of 16 tie at Old Trafford on Thursday.

United then host relegation-threatened Southampton in the Premier League on Sunday, with Liverpool in action against another side in the bottom three - Bournemouth - on Saturday.

Topics: Football, Premier League, Manchester United, Liverpool, Rio Ferdinand

Rory O'Callaghan

Rory O'Callaghan is Editorial Lead at SPORTbible. He has previously worked for Sky Sports News, MailOnline and Reach covering football, cricket, boxing and MMA. Tested daily as a Liverpool fan in a Manchester office.

@rory_ocallaghan