The Reds have had some epic battles against the champions over recent seasons, as Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola traded blows.
But on Sunday, Guardiola brought his City side to Anfield for the first time ever without Klopp in charge of Liverpool.
And with Arne Slot’s team sitting eight points clear of them at the top of the Premier League come kick-off, it looked like a big ask for City to get the win.
That bore out in the early exchanges of the game, with Liverpool deservedly going ahead through Cody Gakpo after just 12 minutes.
It arguably should have been more for the Reds and looking back at the first 45 minutes at half-time, Jamie Carragher noted something that Liverpool had done that he’d ‘never seen’ against Guardiola’s City.
Liverpool's Dutch striker #18 Cody Gakpo (C) celebrates with teammates after scoring the opening goal of the English Premier League football match ...
Liverpool on top against Man City
Although City were coming off the back of a six-game winless run, Liverpool supporters would still have been wary of them on Sunday.
Whatever their struggles, City are still four-time consecutive champions and posses real quality throughout the team.
But fans’ anxiety will have abated after seeing their team serve up a blistering start to the game.
The 1-0 lead at the break really should have been more, and after watching a glut of Liverpool chances back on Sky Sports, Carragher said that it was the kind of domination that the Reds had never managed under Klopp.
“I’ve never seen a Liverpool team dominate Pep Guardiola’s Man City like this,” claimed the Liverpool legend.
“The fact that it’s still 1-0 is a miracle.”
Liverpool slack off in second-half
Although Slot will have no doubt been pleased by the way Liverpool started against City, the Reds should really have hammered home their advantage when they had the chance.
With just one goal in it things were always likely to become tense in the second-half.
Happy with their lead, Liverpool clearly sat back considerably, allowing City to get a much better foothold on the game.
The Reds should still have punished their opponents further, Mohamed Salah missing inexplicably when one-on-one with Stefan Ortega.
But the sheer domination of the first-half showed exactly where these two teams are at the moment.
0 Comments