Liverpool vs Manchester City will always be an intriguing clash and given the situation both teams were in for this game at Anfield, it delivered drama from start to finish.
MORE — Player ratings out of 10 for Liverpool vs Manchester City
It was Liverpool who were victorious, thanks to a 2-0 win, as Pep Guardiola was left wagging six fingers to remind the home fans how many Premier League titles he has won at City as they sang “you’re getting sacked in the morning!”
But it’s Liverpool who are the red-hot favorites to win the title this season, as they now sit 11 points clear of City and were absolutely dominant. This win for Liverpool never really looked in doubt as Arne Slot’s side came flying out of the traps, scored early, controlled the game and then finished City off late on. They are now nine points clear atop the Premier League table.
Below is a look at what we learned from Liverpool vs Manchester City.
Liverpool’s potential under Slot is scary
It’s early on in the season, but you can already say this was textbook Arne Slot Liverpool. They used the power and pace of the Jurgen Klopp era to blow City away early on, then Slot’s new approach of keeping the ball, being patient and plugging gaps defensively worked a treat to stifle City’s hopes of a comeback. They then picked off City a few times late on and scored a second from the penalty spot to seal the win as they ramped up the tempo again. This performance was a great example of how variable Liverpool’s play now is. They are multi-dimensional and have so many ways they can hurt you. Slot has somehow kept the brilliant scything attacks from the Klopp era and given Liverpool a way to sprinkle them in throughout games instead of all at once. This is now an extremely balanced Liverpool side and the potential is scary as they missed big chances too. That has happened quite a lot this season and they’ve won 18 of their 20 games in all competitions so far. When they are even more clinical they will start to blow teams away by five or six. The title is now theirs to lose.
Man City’s midfield gamble backfires
Playing Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva as your two central midfielders away at Liverpool was a real gamble. It did not pay off. The creative duo are wonderful players but they left City’s shaky back four totally exposed in the first half. When Akanji stepped in and played a bit higher as a hybrid holding midfielder it allowed Silva and Gundogan to push higher and impact the game more. Still, with no Rodri and Kovacic there is a massive hole in City’s midfield and they just keep on giving up big chances as they can’t pressure opponents around the halfway line. Long-term Akanji has to step in and play as a central midfielder to try and solid this problem and the only positive for City is that Grealish, Savinho, Doku and De Bruyne all looked sharp when they came on. Given the situation they’re now in, the best form of defense is attack for City. You’d still fancy them to beat most teams playing that way and now Guardiola has to go all-out with attacking players to try and somehow get back in the title race. Defensively they just haven’t got the players around, fit and in-form to play how they usually do. Pep has to innovate or buy a top-class holding midfielder in January. The former seems more likely.
Van Dijk, Salah, Alexander-Arnold underline their importance
This time last week Mohamed Salah was talking about his future and how he hasn’t been offered a new contract. Over the last few months, and the last week in particular, Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold have underlined why they need to stay at Liverpool. Van Dijk was excellent (aside from one sloppy pass late on) and dominated Haaland and could’ve scored a hat trick from set pieces. Alexander-Arnold was superb on the ball and set up Salah to send in a majestic cross for Liverpool’s first goal. After that amazing assist Salah put away the penalty kick for the second and even had the audacity to miss a clear chance on the counter in the second half too. All three are out of contract this summer and all three have been pivotal to this incredible start to the season for Liverpool. It is never this easy, but Liverpool have to find a way to make sure all three players stay this summer.
