Liverpool FC, fully capitalized on the loss of Arsenal against West Ham at home to play almost as freely as possible without the pressure of needing to do well here. Because to be honest, with Arsenal losing, at least I didn't need to feel so bad for dropping any points here against City. Instead LFC slammed a comfortably easy victory against them at their home turf. It was our first victory in the Etihad in almost 10 years, completing the double in the PL against Man City for the first time since Klopp's first season. Truth be told, even with low possession at 36%, actually we could have scored way more. But 2-0 is enough, we'll take that massive win either way.
Alisson: 8 / 10
Imperious and calm on his line. Did what he had to do and that aura seemed to have a positive effect to the rest of the backline. Needed to be reliable today after all the flak he has got recently, and he was, although truth be told that most of the attempts facing him was pretty routine and nothing he couldn't handle.
Trent: 7 / 10
Initiated the attack for the 1st goal
Marked the lowest since he was getting cooked by Doku. Getting dribbled past the most is not a stat you should be proud with. However it didn't have any ill effects because of Konate and Van Dijk being the solid partnership at the back as they are as usual. Also Jeremy Doku just didn't have the end product despite having a huge threat on that side.
His passings to the wings were still nonetheless crucial, which is great to see. His lob launching the ball was what initiated the attack for the 2nd goal.
Ibrahima Konate and Virgil Van Dijk: 9 / 10
Wow. These two just simply gel together just fine which is the reason they deserve an equal high score and deserve to be scored together as a pairing. So solid that they were able to shrug off almost any threat Man City threw at them with wave after wave of attacks. That's leading by example. Konate is almost as much as a captain as Van Dijk.
Robertson: 7.5 / 10
Offered plenty of solidity on the left side and going forward. Remained calm and cool on the ball.
Ryan Gravenberch: 8.5 / 10
Starting to return to his best after some questionable performances or dips lately. Hard worker today and it really showed, being solid on the ball and off it.
Alexis Mac Allister: 9 / 10
Key Pass that led to an assist and resulting 1st goal.
One of those background workers for the day. And that was a bloody good corner that came straight from the training ground, geez! Being the glue that tied the midfield together while also doubling as a DM at times, he kept it organized and tight together.
Curtis Jones: 7.5 / 10
Could have scored LFC's third if not for VAR intervention. However the warning signs for Man City were already there which made it simple for LFC's kinda overcrowded midfield to carve the City defense on the counter. He did struggle on the ball initially in the first half, losing possession often back there but did grow into the game as it progressed.
Dominik Szoboszlai: 9.5 / 10
Goal Contribution: 1 Assist and 1 Goal
The first of the 10s that started more like a 9.5 and really part of the SAS show that day. Well, the Szobo and Salah show. His best performance in a LFC shirt, easily. Was a constant menace in the City backline with his immense work rate. Collected the corner from Alexis and handed it to Salah on a plate. A beautiful team goal that really resembled something from training. Man City were completely rattled with this goal early before he added on the second goal, beating a backline that should have done a lot better.
Luis Diaz: 8 / 10
The only one of the two forwards since Jota and Gakpo are both not fully fit. He did provide a good attacking threat down the left hand side but just didn't really have the cutting edge to follow it through. Still helped loads in the defensive battle as he was almost doubling as an auxiliary Left Wing Back in a way.
Mohamed Salah: 9.5 / 10
Goal Contribution: 1 Assist and 1 Goal
Need not say more about the first goal, you can see Szoboszlai for that. Sure, the goal may have been a result of a deflection, but we won't really care and that was really enough to completely punish City's morale. Not long after, he collected a long range volley from Trent, juggling the City Backline before making his assist to Szoboszlai. That was his 30th goal and 20th assist in all competitions. His strength and vision was what made Man City totally thrown off, especially when he and Szobo were on the counterattack. He just needed to be at the right place at the right time, which he always was.
SUBSTITUTES
Wataru Endo: 7.5 / 10 (for Jones)
Solidified what was already a nicely compact midfield that made it even harder for Man City to follow through. 2 big tackles and 2 ground duels won in that short 20 minute cameo was nothing to sneeze at.
Kostas Tsimikas: 7 (for Robertson)
Didn't really need to do anything much to further nullify the attack and allowed Robertson time for abit more rest to prep for Newcastle.
Gakpo, Elliott, Quansah: NR (For Diaz, Salah and Trent Alexander Arnold)
Came in too late to be of effect offensively but they manage to see the game out and claim the clean sheet.
Arne Slot: 10
This was considered to be his biggest game and test especially after dropping points against Aston Villa and Everton. Knowing not winning here would have serious implications in the title charge. Instead he got a statement win, with his men playing comfortably and confidently without needing to really get out of 2nd gear.
To be honest, going in kinda 4-2-4-0 without a recognized 9 was a big gamble, but kinda enforced as Gakpo and Jota weren't fit enough to start. And for this game, we needed the legs especially on the counter.
However 4 midfielders was the correct play to overcrowd the center of the park to provide an additional shielding in front of the backline made things even more compact. 2 half-wingers with Jones and Szoboszlai could still pivot front and back. It was Szoboszlai that eventually caused some of the biggest headaches in the City's backline. The new formation did cause City to be thrown off balance. Also having Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister overlapping as defensive cover helped big time whenever one of our CBs needed to plunge forward to stop an attack. That make sure we'll always have a line of at least 4 men or more in front of Alisson at any given time.
This was LFC's first double against City in the league in almost 10 years, and Slot only needed to do it against Guardiola for the very first time.
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