Rio Ferdinand, a former captain of Manchester United, has said that Malacia, a new fullback for the team, "reminds him" of Patrice Evra.

On Monday night, Malacia received his first Premier League start of the season and was crucial to Man United's 2-1 victory over Liverpool at Old Trafford.

Despite Mohamed Salah scoring for Liverpool in the 81st minute of the match, the Netherlands international was able to silence him for extended periods of time.

Ferdinand has drawn comparisons between the summer acquisition and Evra, who played a key role in Man United's five Premier League championships, three League Cup victories, and Champions League triumph between 2006 and 2014.

"Today's Malacia was fantastic, outstanding. He reminds me of Patrice Evra in many ways. "He's athletic, he looks like a pound-for-pound strong kid,” Ferdinand said on his Vibe with FIVE podcast.

Malacia was given the nod over Luke Shaw at left-back, with the Englishman struggling in the team’s opening two matches of the season against Brighton & Hove Albion and Brentford.

The 23-year-old is now expected to keep his spot in the starting XI for Saturday’s clash with Southampton, and Ferdinand has claimed that Shaw could find it tough to regain his starting role.

“There aren’t many left-backs in European or world football in the last four or five years who have gone out of a game and kept Mohamed Salah quiet." "Luke Shaw’s going to have to do something to get back into this team now,” Ferdinand added.