Another insipid, dispiriting display by Liverpool, in which Manchester City secured a very comfortable 3-0 victory. Goals from Haaland, inevitably, Gonzalez, and man-of-the-match Doku, brushed aside a hesitant and fragile display from the defending league champions.
Sticking with the same eleven that defeated Real Madrid during the week, Arne Slot must have hoped he’d at last found the winning formula. Alas, Liverpool’s chances of successfully defending the Premier League title have now gone the way of the festive fireworks—up in smoke.
Hesitant in defence, particularly Ibou Konaté, whose intervention early on led to a penalty, and with both defenders and midfield strangely reluctant to pass the ball beyond the halfway line, Liverpool were never in the game. In saving the penalty, Gio Mamardashvili might have assumed his teammates would take it as a cue to up their performance. Yet, it merely delayed the City opener. Haaland was fortunate to score off his shoulder, as the ball skidded off the head of Konaté, with Andy Robertson later berated by Virgil Van Dijk for failing to stop the cross.
One-nil down and in dire need of half-time, Liverpool conceded a second. The shot deflected in off Van Dijk. Of course, some may argue that had the header from the Liverpool captain stood—rather than being disallowed as Robertson was offside and adjudged to have been interfering with play—the outcome of the match may have been different. That, however, ignores just how porous Liverpool were. City were well worth their half-time lead.
Arne Slot chose not to make any changes at the interval, and just after the hour, Doku put the game beyond doubt. A rasping shot, following a jinking run, gave Mamardashvili no chance. The only question remaining was, could Liverpool at least score. They weren’t, though, playing well enough to do so; despite some improvement, they failed to really trouble City or create any clear chances.
Liverpool now sit in eighth place, having lost five league games. With an international break now upon us, those at Anfield will surely be casting an eye over a kinder run of fixtures, on paper at least.
Champions League qualification for next season is imperative but, given recent results, that looks far from certain.
