A bottle was thrown at the Manchester United team bus as it made its way to Anfield ahead of their Premier League clash against Liverpool.
into them liverpool 🛑🛑 https://t.co/KseZoGVc6H
— JL (@metrolosin) December 17, 2023
Erik ten Hag’s side made the short journey to neighbouring Liverpool via road and took damage to their team coach as it weaved through streets on approach to the stadium.
United’s two coaches carried players and staff to the home of Jurgen Klopp’s title-challengers. The vehicle at the front of the pair was struck by the missile thrown amidst a crowd of Liverpool fans.
The vehicle reportedly took damage to a window on the upper deck of the bus that was partly smashed by the bottle.
United eventually arrived at the stadium with players and staff making their way into the ground and going through their usual pre-match preparations ahead of kick-off at 4.30pm.
A bottle was thrown at the Manchester United team bus as it’s made its way to Anfield on Sunday
A video posted to a Liverpool fan’s X account with an avatar showing a picture of Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold shared the moment the United team bus was struck.
The video captioned ‘into them Liverpool’ shows a glass cider bottle being held before it was then thrown at the United coach and striking one of its glass panelled windows.
The bus continued to carry on making its way towards the stadium with security and stewards separating them from Liverpool supporters while players disembarked.
A statement from Liverpool condemned the violent scenes that led to the United team coach being damaged, stating: ‘Liverpool Football Club utterly condemns the actions that led to damage being caused to the Manchester United team bus during its arrival at Anfield this afternoon.
‘We are aware of footage of the incident circulating online and are working with Merseyside Police, to fully investigate and identify those responsible.
‘Any individuals found guilty of this reprehensible behaviour will also face the full force of the Club’s sanction process.’
Marcus Rashford was one of the United players that got off the bus and was named on the bench by Ten Hag
A bottle of cider was thrown at the Man United team bus as it made its way to Anfield
The bottle struck one of the coach’s upper glass panels and was smashed as a result
United’s pre-match confidence is unlikely to have been given a boost by the hostile scenes to which they were greeted with at Anfield.
Liverpool will return to the top of the Premier League table if they beat Man United and are one of the English top-flight’s most in-form teams.
The visitors are in an all together contrasting run of form having exited the Champions League earlier in the week and placed eight in the league standings prior to their visit to Liverpool.
United’s last trip to their rivals ended in a 7-0 defeat as they collapsed under the atmosphere at Anfield.
