Football writer Alex Keble assesses Liverpool's 2-0 win at Manchester City which moves them 11 points clear at the top of the table.
Liverpool’s victory over Manchester City was not a thrashing, nor a resounding defeat to plunge Pep Guardiola’s team into a fresh crisis.
Yet in its way, the quiet, almost routine nature of Liverpool’s win was its own indignity.
Liverpool controlled the match without seeing much of the ball, keeping Man City at arms’ length to show just how big the gulf has grown between these two great rivals.
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Man City have never looked so weary or wayward under Guardiola. By contrast Liverpool, who took a giant stride forward in the title race this weekend, have rarely seemed so perfectly in sync.
And so, in the dying moments of this match as the Liverpool fans sang “we’re gonna win the league”, it was hard to disagree with them.
A decisive weekend for Liverpool as City fall further away
The title race isn’t over. But Arsenal’s shock 1-0 defeat at home to West Ham United on Saturday was in sharp contrast to the serenity of Liverpool’s 2-0 win in a supposedly much tougher fixture.
It’s that psychological difference – one forever calm, the other always seeming to strive and strain for wins – that makes Liverpool such strong favourites to see it out from here.
It was always expected to be a big couple of weeks for Liverpool’s title race. Few thought the period would end with Arne Slot’s side even further clear at the top.
As for Man City, they are now 20 points behind Liverpool, a gap they never could have dreamed of at the start of the season and a larger one than we’ve ever seen since Man City were taken over in 2008/09.
But they have bigger worries than Liverpool. They are inside the top four on goal difference alone and a mere two points ahead of Aston Villa in eighth.
A fifth defeat in nine in all competitions won’t have left fans feeling confident UEFA Champions League football will return for 2025/26.
Especially not with defensive lapses like those we saw, yet again, on Sunday.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Liverpool
LIV
|
27 | +38 | 64 |
| 2 |
Arsenal
ARS
|
26 | +28 | 53 |
| 3 |
Nott'm Forest
NFO
|
26 | +11 | 47 |
| 4 |
Man City
MCI
|
26 | +15 | 44 |
| 5 |
Newcastle
NEW
|
26 | +10 | 44 |
| 6 |
Bournemouth
BOU
|
26 | +14 | 43 |
| 7 |
Chelsea
CHE
|
26 | +12 | 43 |
| 8 |
Aston Villa
AVL
|
27 | -2 | 42 |
Salah exploits familiar Man City defensive issues
From a Man City perspective the two goals were soft, the first a corner routine that caught the hosts napping and the second a long ball over the high line that had shades of Real Madrid’s opener in midweek: no pressure on the ball allowing an easy pass in behind.
But Mohamed Salah was ruthless – again. Liverpool scored twice from a first-half Expected Goals (xG) of just 0.27, with Salah once again setting records with his goal and assist.
He equalled the record for away goals in a Premier League season (16), broke Liverpool’s Premier League record for most assists in a season (16) and became the first player in Europe’s top five leagues to amass 50 goal involvements in all competitions this season (51).
The Premier League record for combined goals and assists stands at 44, set by Erling Haaland in 2022/23. Salah is already on 41. And it’s only February.
“The numbers speak for themselves,” Slot said after the match. “What pleased me most today is that mostly we have more ball possession, so that means we bring in many, many times a promising position.
“But today there wasn’t that many moments we could bring him into positive positions.
"But every time we gave them, he was a threat.”
Liverpool’s deep 4-4-2 stunts Haaland-less City
Salah made the telling difference, but this was just as much a tactical victory for Slot – who went against type with a more defensive showing at the Etihad.
Liverpool held just 33.9 per cent possession, their lowest in a Premier League victory on record since 2003/04.
Starting with two central midfielders (Curtis Jones and Dominik Szoboszlai) in the most advanced positions, Liverpool formed a narrow, compact and often deep 4-6-0 that completely squeezed the middle of the pitch.
Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden, who started together as twin No 8s, were anonymous as a result, while Man City were forced to continually shuttle the ball out wide, taking the long way around the Liverpool blockade via Jeremy Doku and Savinho.
City’s pass map from the match (below) shows just how rarely they entered the box from the middle column.
Key: Green - successful pass, yellow - chance created, red - failed pass
The problem with this, aside from the colossal Virgil van Dijk standing in the way, was that without the injured Haaland there was nobody to attack the balls into the box whenever Doku managed to beat Trent Alexander-Arnold.
It was a simple strategy but an effective one: squeeze the middle and clear up anything that comes from the byline.
Not for the first time, Slot demonstrated his tactical flexibility – and showed that controlling a match can be done even without possession.
He got the theory spot on, while Guardiola watched on as his team toiled to no avail, despite an “exceptional” overall performance in his words.
It’s a sight that has become all too common this season and could yet cost them a place in next season’s Champions League.
Man City travel to Tottenham Hotspur and Nottingham Forest in their next two league matches. It isn’t going to get any easier.
Man City's next five PL fixtures
Liverpool, on the other hand, host Newcastle United on Wednesday brimming with confidence.
Liverpool's next five PL fixtures
Slot isn’t getting carried away, not even after becoming the first Liverpool manager since Bob Paisley to do the double over the reigning champions in his debut season.
“In every other league, having a lead like this would be very comfortable - apart from this one, because in this league every single game gives you a lot of challenges,” he said.
“Even Plymouth Argyle gives you a lot of challenges.”
Nevertheless, one match at a time, Liverpool are closing in on their second Premier League title.