Match Report and Player Ratings: Liverpool 2-0 Manchester City (Premier League)

Manchester City suffered a fourth consecutive loss in the Premier League with a 2-0 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday, leaving them 11 points adrift of the summit.

The storied rivalry between the two sides saw the reigning champions struggle against one of their biggest rivals in Anfield, succumbing to their seventh consecutive defeat across all competitions in their latest clash. Arne Slot came prepared to take on Pep Guardiola, who saw his side punished by the table leaders in a composed fashion.

To say that Man City had a nervy start at Anfield would be an understatement. Misplaced passes from Manuel Akanji, Mattheus NNunes’ball retention, a struggling Ilkay Gundogan, and Kyle WWalker’sroutine errors left gaping holes in the team’s setup for Liverpool to exploit from the first whistle.

The hosts knew to put pressure on Guardiola’s men right from the opening minute. Trent Alexander Arnold’s remarkable link-up with Cody Gakpo troubled the reigning champions, rendering the entire City midfield pointless during the build-ups.

Mohammed Salah, as always, remained the biggest threat, and he was also the one who set up the first blow for the visiting side. Gakpo quietly followed up behind an unaware Kyle Walker while Salah ran free on the other side of the pitch.

The Egyptian made a sublime cross inside the City box while Gakpo snuck past Walker to drive the ball inside the net. Ortega, who had withstood the pressure until now, managed to graze the ball but could not stop it from falling into the path of an incoming Gakpo.

The ease with which the Liverpool forward ran behind Walker for the goal was harrowing. An argument seemingly ensued between the Englishman and Ruben Dias, foreshadowing the worst of City’s defensive woes that would be displayed later in the game.

There were still plenty of unwise choices, including the man-marking during the set pieces. The Blues did not concede another goal in the first half, which was a temporary reprieve in the context of their recent performances and LLiverpool’spure quality.

Although Man City’s defense improved as time passed, the team’s offense was negligible. GGuardiola’sside struggled to find harmony in their build-ups, which often met with disappointing endings. City registered their first shot on target almost half an hour into the game with Rico LLewis’wide shot from the edge of the box.

Man City increased the frequency with which they created chances, creating hopeful spells when they returned in the second half. Nunes stopped Gakpo from doubling the lead for Liverpool and soon made way for Jeremy Doku, who proved to be a bigger challenge for Trent Alexander-Arnold.

The reigning champions had just started to gain momentum when a series of blunders from City defenders led to them conceding another goal. This time, Luis Diaz escaped with the ball after mistakes from Ruben Dias and Kyle Walker before running into Ortega, who had committed a foul.

The hosts were given the penalty, and Salah converted from the spot to give the table leaders a much-needed advantage. Kevin De Bruyne’s introduction late in the second half pushed the Liverpool side back inside their half, but the Belgian shooting straight at the keeper did not help.

Liverpool toyed with Man City’s confidence for some more time before the referee blew the final whistle. The Sky Blues suffered a seventh successive defeat, their fourth in the Premier League, and fell 11 points behind their opponents.

The loss also extends the worst spell in Pep Guardiola’s managerial career, who had a cheeky moment at Anfield with the home fans when he signaled how many league trophies he has won. However, the Catalan now has a monumental task to revive this Man City side as they prepare for their next match against Nottingham Forest, scheduled for later this week.

Here’s how we rate Man City players’ performance in their defeat against Liverpool today.

Player Ratings

Starting XI

Stefan Ortega

Replaced Ederson because the latter made mistakes, made a mistake that led to the penalty., That said, he made several saves, and without him in the goal, the visitors would have probably had to endure an embarrassing scoreline

Kyle Walker – 2

Mistakes can be forgiven, but the captain’s unaware, nonchalant, and irresponsible performance was undoubtedly City’s weakest point.

Ruben Dias – 5.5

He was better than other City defenders until his mistake, followed by errors from Walker and Ortega, led to a penalty.

Nathan Ake – 5

Nathan Ake prevented a goal but picked up a yellow card after committing a foul in his desperate attempt to play a ball from Bernardo SSilva’smistake.

Manuel Akanji – 4

His passes were misplaced in the beginning, especially the one directed at Gundogan, who couldn’t withhold Liverpool attackers but grew better as the game progressed.

Ilkay Gundogan – 5

He struggled in the midfield and could not prevent any of the Liverpool build-ups but got better after setting in the game.

Rico Lewis – 6

He was allowed to play higher and was good with the ball despite overwhelming spells of attack. He paced through Liverpool’s midfield with the ball at his feet.

Bernardo Silva – 5

Uncharacteristically poor performance against Liverpool. His passes were terrible, with his only memorable moment being his slight tiff with Slaah – but he would be better off forgetting the same.

Phil Foden – 5

Received a yellow card for an avoidable foul, struggled in the final third, and did nothing relevant.

Mattheus Nunes – 5

He struggled to find his way past the Liverpool full-backs and could not find Erling Haaland inside the box, preventing a massive goal from Gakpo.

Erling Haalad – 4

Games like these scream for goalscorers; he may not have received the ball as often, but he should have done better with the chances that were created.

Substitutes

Jeremy Doku – 6

Elevating the entire City attack with his energy forced Liverpool to defend deep, which helped his other teammates to get inside the box.

Kevin De Bruyne – 5

He missed an easy goal – at least by his standards – and the one that could have been a game-changer.

Savinho – 5

He paired well with Doku but could not replicate the latter’s flow on the pitch.

Jack Grealish – 5

Similar to his last appearance, he did not do enough to warrant a rating of his performance.