Liverpool’s winning streak came to an end after just two matches, with defeat to Manchester City at the Etihad.
The Reds had beaten Aston Villa and Real Madrid but couldn’t make it three in a row. It leaves Liverpool in a precarious situation. The defending champions sit eighth in the Premier League, now eight points behind early pace-setters Arsenal.
At a glance, you’d be forgiven for thinking Man City ran riot against Arne Slot’s side at the Etihad. A 3-0 win and a missed penalty would certainly suit that narrative. That just wasn’t the case, though. Pep Guardiola had a lot of luck on his side in his 1,000th match as a manager.
In this article, we’ll cover:
Luck favours the hosts
Ibrahima Konate’s attempted headed clearance hit Erling Haaland perfectly and looped into the far corner for the opener. Virgil van Dijk dangled out a lazy leg in an attempt to block Nico Gonzalez’s effort and it diverted the ball beyond Giorgi Mamardashvili.
You then had Van Dijk’s goal controversially ruled out for offside while Cody Gakpo missed a good opportunity in the second half. And Gonzalez, somehow, managed to divert a shanked clearance narrowly over the bar. If a Liverpool player had attempted that at the opposite end of the pitch, you just know it would’ve ended up in the back of the net.
It was never a 3-0 game. But Man City did deserve their win. They dominated the first half and had Liverpool chasing shadows. Slot acknowledged as much in his post-match press conference.
“It’s easy for players to win their duels if the game-plan and tactics are working,” Slot said.
“What I did against Villa and Madrid, we struggled now a lot with them bringing so many players into the centre of the pitch.
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“It was difficult for some of our players then to make the right decisions. It wasn’t about my players not wanting to make duels, they had to run a lot because they were so much better on the ball than us. Our players were then sometimes too late.
“I would look to the gameplan first and foremost of us and them and not blame my players at all.
“In the second half when we were doing better you could see could us winning much more duels. Then we were more than a few times able to win the ball, which didn’t result in a goal for us.”
Failed tactics
Slot didn’t get the tactics right. You could also make the argument that he gambled with the starting XI. A lot of this team ran themselves into the ground against Real Madrid. And with the exception of Florian Wirtz, the same team had started the win over Aston Villa too.
The Dutchman didn’t rotate. He put tired players out against a team that was likely going to dominate the ball. Injuries may have tied his hands but Curtis Jones, Joe Gomez, Cody Gakpo, Milos Kerkez and Federico Chiesa were all on the bench at the Etihad. The point of having a squad is to use them. If you can’t trust these players to carry out instructions to the level of the player they’ve replaced, that’s a problem.
Man City flooded the middle of the pitch with Jeremy Doku, Rayan Cherki and Phil Foden, but you could see the tiredness in the legs of the Liverpool players. They were late to the press and sluggish in transition. Even if Slot had nailed the tactics, it doesn’t solve the tiredness issue.
Against Real Madrid and Aston Villa, the ball stuck in the final third. Hugo Ekitike was an outlet. Mo Salah looked back to his brilliant best too. Against Man City, this wasn’t the case. Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol easily dealt with the Frenchman while Nico O’Reilly managed to limit Salah. The Reds had no out-ball.
A blunt attack
Liverpool couldn’t get their better players in possession in dangerous areas.
Wirtz, for example, had a lot of joy against Real Madrid on the left side of the attack. Against Man City, he was everywhere but the left side of the attack.
The hosts made sure Salah couldn’t influence the game, limiting him to just three attempted dribbles. He didn’t manage to complete a single one. Ekitike, subbed just before the hour mark, had 11 touches and didn’t manage to win a single duel.
So while Liverpool did an admirable job limiting their hosts 1.1 non-penalty Expected Goals, they offered nothing going forward. Liverpool landied just one shot on target and finishing 0.61 xG. It’s another game in which Slot hasn’t been able to get his attack firing. It’s another game in which the former Feyenoord boss hasn’t gotten his tactics right. And it’s yet another game where he’s not used his bench well enough.
The Reds can salvage their season but the longer this goes on, with Liverpool failing to win matches, the more difficult it becomes to even claim a top four finish.