No goals but Liverpool v Man United still broke records as 4.5m tuned in

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In the end, the hyped-up ‘biggest game of the season’ was, in truth, anything but.

As so often happens on such occasions, the build-up often leads to disappointment on the day, and in the case of Liverpool v Manchester United, that’s exactly what happened.

Both teams cancelled each other out for large parts of the game and when chances did arrive, which were few and far between, they were easily dealt with by either side.

The lack of atmosphere is likely to have played a part, given that teams often suggest that it’s the ’12th man’ that can sometimes make the difference.

In any event, broadcasters, Sky Sports, will have been rubbing their hands together.

Viewing figures for the game released on Monday showed that the match was the second most watched ever in the Premier League era in terms of average audience share, surpassed only by last June’s Merseyside derby.

With 4.5m viewers and a peak of 4.8m, the game also comes in second behind Game of Thrones as the highest-rated programme ever on Sky pay channels.