Manchester City and Liverpool fixtures have determined Premier League titles over the past few years, so it’s fitting that Liverpool’s 2-0 win over City on Sunday may well be the moment the Reds reached a point of no return in winning back the Premier League Trophy.
Liverpool scored twice and controlled the game without the ball, growing their table lead to 11 points on the field and 20 on the hosts.
Here’s how we rated the players out of 10 from a titanic clash between Manchester City and Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium.
Manchester City vs Liverpool player ratings
Ederson: 6 — Hard to fault him on either goal.
Rico Lewis: 6.5 — A crucial tackle sprung one of City’s best rushes, and he was tidy with the ball as usual.
Abdukhodir Khusanov: 7 — He was exceptional with the ball, missing on only one pass. Only Gonzalez touched the ball more than the Uzbek export.
Nathan Ake (Off 78'): 7 — His ball progression was elite, sending a game-high passes into the final third.
Josko Gvardiol: 5.5 — Salah makes a lot of players look less than their best. Gvardiol was no exception on Sunday
Nico Gonzalez (Off 78'): 7.5 — Had a tremendous overall game aside from a late arrival tracking back on the first Liverpool goal.
Kevin De Bruyne (Off 66'): 6.5 — Created a couple of very good chances but did not affect the game in any manner near his standards.
Savinho: 7 — Created plenty of chances coming from the right side, although he could’ve used more sharpness with the final ball.
Phil Foden: 6 — Started strong but then got desperate before fading into the background.
Jeremy Doku: 8 — His nine completed dribbles by the 65th minute were equal to the combined total of completed dribbles by every other player in the match to that point.
Omar Marmoush (Off 77'): 7 — The two most dangerous men on the pitch were Egyptian, as Marmoush had a goal ruled offside and did everything he could to get on the end of Jeremy Doku’s service.
Subs
James McAtee (On 66'): — 6.5
Ilkay Gundogan (On 77'): — N/A
Mateo Kovacic (On 78'): — N/A
Ruben Dias (On 78'): — N/A
Liverpool vs Manchester City player ratings
Alisson Becker: 7 — Five saves, and well-positioned on all of them.
Andy Robertson (Off 74'): 6 — Frustrated for pace and resorted to fouls early.
Ibrahima Konate: 7 — Did so well, even if he was the second-best center back on his team.
Virgil van Dijk: 8 — Patrolled the park in near-perfect fashion, with aerial control alongside Konate.
Trent Alexander-Arnold (Off 90'): 5 — Habitually cooked by Doku, he was dribbled past 10 times in the first 80 minutes.
Ryan Gravenberch: 8 — Arne Slot bet that Gravenberch and Mac Allister could handle the majority of the midfield patrol duties and it worked a treat.
Alexis Mac Allister: 8 — See Gravenberch’s line.
Curtis Jones (Off 74'): 7 — Had a goal pulled back for Szoboszlai’s offside, and was positionally responsible while dogged in the duel.
Dominik Szoboszlai: 7.5 — A strong game, for sure.
Luis Diaz (Off 79'): 6.5 — Busy, if a bit off his normal production.
Mohamed Salah (Off 90'): 8.5 — What a force. There may be no more of a complete attacker in the world at this moment. Scroll through his season video highlights and just look at what he’s doing this season.
Subs
Kostas Tsimikas (On 74'): N/A
Wataru Endo (On 74'): N/A
Cody Gakpo (On 79'): N/A
Harvey Elliott (On 90'): N/A
Jarell Quansah (On 90'): N/A
