Louis van Gaal knew Manchester United were in trouble against Everton... during the warm-up

The Red Devils suffered their first successive defeats under Louis van Gaal

David De Gea during Manchester United's defeat to Everton (GETTY IMAGES)

Louis van Gaal knew his Manchester United side could be in for a difficult afternoon as early as the warm-up at Goodison Park.

The Red Devils lost 3-0 yesterday, a result that gave Liverpool hope in the battle for Champions League football and saw the club lose successive games for the first time since Van Gaal took charge at Old Trafford with it coming off the back of a 1-0 loss to Chelsea.

The United manager admitted after the match that the performance was not up to standard, but revealed he was concerned about the game ahead based on the pre-match warm-up.

"This is the first match that the other team have shown more fighting spirit than us," Van Gaal said after the defeat.

"Our motivation, inspiration and aggression was not as high as the opponent.

"I had already the feeling and my colleagues (assistants) Ryan Giggs and Albert Stuivenberg had the feeling because the warm up was not so good as usual.

"In the last minutes before the game you hope you can recover and stimulate your players but then it is too late.

"You have to prepare the match already two or three days before and Everton has done that and they have won because of that.

"When you see the goal after four minutes, three duels in a row we lost and that is an example. In the first half we created a lot of chances, five I think but we never scored but when you see the shots on the goal it is also without conviction.

"I hope it shall not happen again but as a coach I know it shall happen again."

Manchester United are seven points ahead of Liverpool having played a game more.