Analysis: Liverpool

Liverpool started in a 4-3-3 formation, dropping back to 4-5-1 in defence, with Jurgen Klopp opting to reinforce his midfield. Emre Can played as a holding midfielder, flanked by Georginio Wijnaldum and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, while Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah operated down the wings.

The main objective of the Liverpool frontline was to force Ederson to look for direct balls into the three Man City forwards, where their back four was set up to control any aerial threat. If the goalkeeper did try to go short to his centre-backs, Liverpool pressed them towards the central channel, where they tried to block the route to Fernandinho. Roberto Firmino was the key man here, tasked as he was with marking the Brazilian midfielder out of the game.

The Reds also tried to prevent the City midfielders from linking up with their forwards, forcing them to play backwards and then piling the pressure on the player in possession. Can and Wijnaldum stood out in particular here, organising the defensive effort and ensuring the league leaders were not as dominant as usual.

The Liverpool back four remained tight in the defensive third, although they relaxed in the final few minutes, allowing the visitors to play through balls in behind Andy Robertson in particular. Both late goals resulted from Robertson’s isolation at left-back.

Liverpool were lethal on the counter-attack. The speed of the first wave of their breaks meant they escaped concerted pressure from Man City. Their attackers surged forwards, positioning themselves in behind the line of pressure ahead of the ball, thus providing the player who won the ball plenty of possession. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was the standout player in these situations; he showed an impressive understanding of when and where to attack the free space both with and without the ball.

The Reds liked to vary their approach in attack, alternating between direct play and passing through the thirds. Loris Karius often looked to move the ball into the opposition half as quickly as possible, while the midfield showed plenty of attacking intent in the middle of the park, constantly seeking to exploit any gaps in behind their opposing midfielders. Oxlade-Chamberlain made particularly good use of the space on the inside, projecting his side forwards in attack where they tried to outnumber Fernandinho.

As a collective, Liverpool were well balanced. In the final third they managed to locate their biggest threats in prime positions, where they caused constant uncertainty in the last line of defence. Salah, Mane and Firmino regularly found openings, successfully exploiting the space in between the centre-backs and the full-backs alongside them.

In the defensive transition, they reorganised quickly and effectively after losing the ball, Wijnaldum and Can leading the way in swarming around the man in possession. They generally stopped Man City from outnumbering them in this phase of the game, reducing the threat of the counter-attack.