Liverpool clashed heads with Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium earlier this evening hoping to secure all three points on the road. The Reds made a bright start to the contest and took the lead in the 13th minute courtesy of Mohamed Salah’s penalty. However, the home team stood strong and responded positively by scoring the equaliser in the 31st minute when Gabriel Jesus scored from close range. Kevin De Bruyne got a great chance to give his side the lead from the penalty spot but ended up failing to hit the target. Both teams went into the half-time break with nothing to split them.
Pep Guardiola’s men pushed on in search of the winner in the second 45 minutes but couldn’t break the Liverpool defence down as the contest finished honours even after both sides played out a 1-1 draw at the north-west of England.
Let’s take a look at how each Liverpool player performed during the contest against Man City.
GK: Alisson Becker – 7.5/10
The Brazilian goalie made a couple of important saves to restrict the opposition to just one goal. He was also tidy with his ball-distribution and made a crucial late clearance to earn his side a point.
RB: Trent Alexander-Arnold – 7/10
The English right-back distributed the ball quite well in the first half and was quite inventive with his long balls. However, he picked up an injury in the second half which forced him off the field.
CB: Joel Matip – 6/10
The Cameroonian centre-back was strong in the air but will be disappointed for giving Gabriel Jesus too much space in the lead-up to Man City’s equaliser.
CB: Joe Gomez – 7/10
Gomez mopped up the danger well and did everything that was asked of him. However, he will be disappointed for not securing the clean sheet.
LB: Andrew Robertson – 7/10
The Scottish full-back produced another industrious performance down the left flank and didn’t give away too much defensively throughout the 90 minutes.
CM: Jordan Henderson – 7/10
The Liverpool captain was not shy of pressing the opposition and put in another tireless shift at the centre of the park.
CM: Georginio Wijnaldum – 6.5/10
The Dutch midfielder retained possession in tight spaces using his strength but lacked creativity with his passing. He also gave away the ball on a couple of occasions but was fortunate that he didn’t concede from those mistakes.
RW: Mohamed Salah – 8/10
The Egyptian international remained calm under pressure and gave Liverpool the lead with a confident penalty. His pace caused all sorts of problems for the Man City defenders in both halves.
CAM: Roberto Firmino – 6/10
The Brazilian attacker linked up play well with others around him but lacked the killer instinct in the final third. He ran out of gas and was subbed in the second half.
LW: Sadio Mane – 7/10
Mane earned the penalty which Salah converted in the first half. He was having a good game early on but produced a disjointed display after the half-time break.
ST: Diogo Jota – 6/10
The Portuguese winger found it difficult to get into the game and didn’t get too many clear-cut chances to find the back of the net.
Substitutes:
CM: Xherdan Shaqiri – 5/10
The Swiss playmaker had some tidy touches in midfield without creating anything of note in the attacking third.
RB: James Milner – 6/10
He came on to operate as a makeshift right-back and did enough to see out the match.
