Liverpool leapfrogged Manchester United to rise to fourth in the Women's Super League with a hard-fought victory in their final game at Prenton Park.

Matt Beard's side followed up their impressive midweek win against title challengers Chelsea with a strong start on Sunday, attacking in numbers and testing United goalkeeper Mary Earps.

They took the lead just before the break when defender Jenna Clark got on the end of a Marie Hobinger delivery after the hosts played a neat short corner routine.

United enjoyed some success in a relatively open game but it was Liverpool who showed more promise from the beginning and Emma Koivisto should really have put them ahead earlier on when she hit the post with a header and somehow missed the rebound from two yards out.

Liverpool attacked with speed and kept United's defence on their toes with Mia Enderby's dribbling but were unable to find a way to extend their lead.

Their inability to find a second didn't matter, though, as the visitors produced little of any real quality even after making attacking changes in the second half as Liverpool saw out victory.

Liverpool will depart Prenton Park to move to rugby league side St Helens' stadium with happy memories after achieving a league double over their Manchester rivals.

While this game lacked the surprise of Wednesday’s win against Chelsea their performance definitely wasn’t lacking the same energy.

Liverpool were determined as momentum regularly shifted in a breathless match, and worked well to create the better opportunities.

United spurned their chances to dent the scoreline, only hitting the target three times with efforts which didn't do much to trouble Teagan Micah.

The visitors failed to heed the warning delivered by Liverpool’s three set-piece goals against Chelsea and left Clark completely unmarked at the back post to easily break the deadlock.

United’s attempts to fight back were kept at bay by Liverpool’s trusty back three of Clark, Gemma Bonner and Grace Fisk.

The game’s quality eventually tailed off but the hosts remained the more dangerous as Enderby and Marie Hobinger linked up to carve out chances to run behind the visitors’ back line.

Beard’s side continued to rack up the opportunities, producing 2.82 expected goals to United’s 0.88.

The only sour note for Reds boss Beard will come from his sending-off after making his displeasure clear to the officials when Koivisto was sent flying into the hoardings after a foul by United defender Gemma Evans.

He will have to watch their final game of the season - away to Leicester City on 18 May - from the stands but the blow will be softened by the fact his side are on the cusp of their best league finish since 2016-17.