Liverpool 2-0 Manchester City Review

Premier League GW13

Manchester City come away from Anfield without any points, something you’d imagine would happen even with some of the best teams Guardiola has had but the lack of attacking threat they posed will be concerning, along with how poorly they competed in the midfield battle. The return of Ruben Dias and Nathan Ake is a positive they can build on for the match against Nottingham Forest as they slip down into fifth.

Notable Stats:

• Manchester City have failed to score in their last two Premier League matches. They haven't gone three in a row without finding the net since March 2008.

• Mohamed Salah has scored or assisted in each of his last eight Premier League starts against Manchester City (six goals, and four assists in total).

• Manchester City have lost four consecutive Premier League matches for the first time since August 2008. Meanwhile, this is the first time in Pep Guardiola’s managerial career that he has lost four consecutive league matches.

Game Stats:

Liverpool 2-0 Man City

• xG: 3.45 - 0.76

• xThreat: 1.55 - 0.82

• Possession: 44.8% - 55.2%

• Field Tilt: 39.2% - 60.8%

• Penalty Box Shots: 11 - 6

• Deep Entries: 14 - 13

• PPDA: 12.5 - 15.0

• High Turnovers: 4 - 9

This was the highest amount of xGA that Manchester City has conceded all season, the lowest number of penalty box shots (6), deep entries (13), shots on target (2), final third entries (37), and successful crosses (0) they’ve registered in a single match. As much as the team has struggled in previous matches defensively, one big problem against Liverpool was in attack. How little threat they posed.

If you want to stay up-to-date on individual player minutes, back four combinations, underlying numbers, and more, check out the live Google sheet linked below. 👇

When I talk about how concerning it is that Manchester City posed little threat against Liverpool, and created so few chances this is what I mean. The one chance they had in the first half was a shot from Rico Lewis (39’) inside the box 0.13xG. Guardiola spoke after the match about wanting to have wingers who can be trusted to keep the ball, control possession, and make short passes. But the other side to that is Liverpool knew Nunes was the only real outlet the team had to get out past their press. Everyone else in the midfield could be beaten to the loose ball, dominated in duels, and pushed off the ball. You don’t have the midfielders capable (Rodri/De Bruyne) of finding Foden/Lewis in the pockets consistently and at the right time, so when City did have some moments of possession they couldn’t take advantage in the middle either.

The goal by Gakpo (12’) 0.95xG was an open goal at the back post with no right-back tracking him. Away from that the chances for Liverpool came from two VVD headers (11’, 19’), Szoboszlai shot Ortega saved (7’) and Gakpo shot off target (19’). Just poor decisions off the ball like this one, both players go towards Mac Allisters which leaves plenty of space to pick out the cross to VVD at the back post.

The second opportunity VVD gets from a corner, which we’ve seen before this season against Arsenal when Kyle Walker was meant to be picking up Gabriel. Same result, free to get a run at the ball. Good chance that ends up going off target over the goal. His third chance from a set piece comes in the second half making a clever run from the back post to near post, again left free to make his run.

When you break them down like that in the first half, you’d expect to give up chances in a match like this even with the best teams Guardiola has had. But you cannot afford to leave played wide open at the back post or give them free headers in your box off a set piece.

This is a nice visual from Markstatsbot which highlights how much more effective Liverpool was at turning losses of possession by Manchester City into shots. Despite them generally being further away from the goal. Liverpool also had 4 high turnovers with 3 of them leading to a shot. Manchester City had 9 high turnovers with only 1 leading to a shot.

Cody Gakpo (12’) 1-0

The ball played in behind Ake by TAA is possible because of the time and space afforded to him by the Manchester City counter-press. You’ve committed enough players forward to win the ball but they are all 2-3 yards off where they should be. Rico Lewis is unsure whether he is picking up Robinson or TAA.

Ideally, you’d like Nathan Ake to cut out that cross along the box when it comes in but the pace and curve behind it is difficult to react to. What you cannot have is a player free at the back post not tracked by your right-back.

A poor back pass from Bernardo Silva to Akanji in the second half that Mohamed Salah pounces on leads him to be 1v1 with Ortega and a teammate to his left but his shot is off-target over the goal. Big chance was missed by Liverpool, all made from a City mistake.

Mohamed Salah (78’ PEN) 2-0

Long ball that Akanji heads down to Ruben Dias he tries to settle down but gets caught in his feet with Nunez on top of him. The loose ball falls for Kyle Walker to mop up, either passing to Akanji, clearing it long, or carrying it into space up the pitch. Instead, Walker makes a poor touch that Diaz, chasing him from behind picks up and charges into the box before winning the penalty as Ortega comes out to win the ball.

Manchester City did have more possession in the second half, but Liverpool were quite happy to shift their approach and win the duels, second balls, and jump on top of mistakes. Were patient and took their opportunity when it came to make it 2-0 which killed the match.

Moving Forward

It’s still painfully clear that the team lacks goalscorers who aren’t called Erling Haaland. Above is the list of providers across all competitions but if we sorted just for the Premier League, behind Haaland are Gvardiol (3), Kovacic (3), and Stones (2). Everybody else is on one goal or none. Phil Foden is not in the scoring form he was last season. Oscar Bobb is out injured until January. Julian Alvarez left and you’ve put faith in your senior players Jack Grealish, Bernardo Silva, and Gundogan to step up. They have not. You’ve hoped that the younger wingers in Jeremy Doku and Savinho can provide goals, they have not. Whilst the struggles of the team started with fragility in transition, it’s spiraled into something much worse.

When you look at the whole squad laid out like this I think the gaps become clear to see in regards to transfers. You need a right-back, a backup to Haaland, and a couple of midfielders. Ideally, you also bring in a prime-age left winger who will score goals, refresh the back line with a new CB, and look at whether a new keeper is needed. None of that can happen until the January window opens and continued to be worked on in the summer window. But the performances across the team can and must improve in the meantime. What started as missing Rodri and being vulnerable to counter-attacks has become much bigger, a team that does not press/counter-press together well, is not confident in duels, and is not brave in the final third with their decision-making. Lost in the opposition box and panicking on their own.

Now the seeds of that improvement I think start with Ruben Dias and Nathan Ake who handled themselves well in the match given how recently they have returned from injury. With a more consistent back four, Josko Gvardiol removing the mistakes he’s made lately and keeping the unit fresh.

When it comes to midfield, De Bruyne could be fit to start soon, Ideas of Grealish/Nunes/Akanji playing in there should all be welcomed and tried out. The team needs to compete in duels and not be always 2-3 yards behind in the counter-press.

Next up is Nottingham Forest (H) tomorrow evening, where Manchester City will look to finally win a football match. Having gone all of November without one. Preview to follow tomorrow morning.