Zonal Marking IV – Manchester City F.C. v Liverpool F.C.

Watching Manchester City give a guard of honour to the newly crowned champions was the only highlight that Liverpool supporters took from Thursday night’s game before the Reds suffered a 4-0 defeat to Pep Guardiola’s men at the Etihad.

Goalkeeper and defence:

Joe Gomez made the headlines for all of the the wrong reasons after he grappled Raheem Sterling in the box and conceded a penalty before failing to block the wingers near post-strike which put the hosts 2-0 up within 30 minutes. Given that the pair also scuffled with one another when the teams last met in November, we could see a feud growing between them which has the potential to get more and more interesting in future seasons.

Virgil van Dijk made a goal line clearance in the first half which kept the Reds in the game, but even he looked out of place on a number of occasions meaning that Fabinho was forced to sit deep as the defence struggled to organise themselves under the attacking presence of Kevin De Bruyne and Gabriel Jesus.

Nico Williams got some more game time however – almost getting himself an assist after his cross found Mo Salah in the box during the 76th minute. The more we see of him, the more it looks likely that he could become a figurehead for Liverpool alongside Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Score: 3

 

Midfield:

Gini Wijnaldum was non-existent for large portions of the game, but Fabinho and Jordan Henderson managed to pull things back for Liverpool in the centre of the pitch with a number of interceptions which spurred the Reds on with their attacks.

Like many Liverpool supporters, I’m not a fan of Martin Tyler’s somewhat biased commentary against Liverpool for Sky Sports, but when he said that Henderson was playing the game as if the Premier League title depended on it, I couldn’t have agreed with him more. The Liverpool captain showed supporters once again that his work rate never seems to drop off at the moment – even when the Reds have practically nothing left to play for.

From the bench, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scored an own goal after he tried to steer Sterling’s second half shot wide, but him and Keita tried their best to make an impact for the Reds as the game continued to slip from their hands.

Score: 5

Attack:

Liverpool had the better chances in the early stages of the game despite the final result. Salah had a powerful shot which hit the post before Sadio Mané miss-controlled the rebound, and his strike a few minutes later forced Ederson to make a save before Roberto Firmino struggled to get something behind his shot on the follow up.

Balls over the top from the midfield and defence became less effective for the Reds as City sat deeper as the game went on, and the attacking chances that Liverpool’s front three were presented with dried up once Gomez conceded the penalty. Likewise, Origi and Takumi Minamino struggled to make an impact from the bench, but the game looked dead and buried by the time that they got even got on the pitch.

Thankfully, the Reds face a much easier opponent in Aston Villa this weekend, with Dean Smith’s men fighting to avoid relegation at the bottom of the Premier League table.

Score: 5