Guardiola’s beautiful football drowns out Klopp’s heavy-metal approach
The meetings between Manchester City and Liverpool have produced some of the most memorable matches the Premier League has witnessed in recent seasons, even the previous meeting between the two clubs in the Premier League this season at Anfield produced an astonishing result as a struggling Liverpool side had defeated a rampant Manchester City team whose star striker Erling Haaland was turning out to be a nightmare for Premier League defences.
However, yesterday’s meeting at the Etihad Stadium between the two teams ended in a hardly surprising outcome, Manchester City blew Liverpool away and won the match 4-1.
City battered Liverpool but the more worrying reality for Jurgen Klopp would be that the Blues were able to do so without even trying hard, Pep Guardiola’s men played some beautiful football of which even Johan Cruyff would be proud, but at the same time Liverpool’s frailties and terrible form made matters easier for City.Â
Liverpool is the team which has often challenged Guardiola’s side for the title in recent seasons, however, both teams came into this fixture with very different objectives for the remainder of the season, for Manchester City the objective for the rest of this Premier League season is to catch up and then eventually gun down the high flying gunners, for Liverpool on the other hand, the objective is to make it to the top 4 places. Manchester City came into this game hoping to cut down the gap against 1st place Arsenal while Liverpool came in with the hope of 3 points which would help them in bridging the gap to the European places.
How they Lined Up :
Manchester City lined up in a formation which on paper seemed like a 4-3-3 with Dias and Stones as the two centre-backs, with Ake and Akanji as the full-backs followed by a midfield 3 of Rodri, Gundogan and De Bruyne, and with two high and wide wingers and a number 9 in Alvarez
However, when the team took to the field the formation was very different from a 4-3-3, it was essentially a 3-2-5 with Stones forming the midfield double pivot along with Rodri, leaving behind a back 3 of Dias, Akanji and Ake. The advantage of playing in this system was that it allowed the team to form a box midfield with Stones, Rodri, De Bruyne and Gundogan which helps to create a numerical overload in the midfield and when out of possession it helps in providing a strong counter-pressing structure.
Liverpool on the other hand lined up in their familiar 4-3-3 system, the unique tweak in Liverpool’s set-up was that Gakpo often dropped deep to link up the play very much like a false 9, something which Roberto Firmino was renowned for at Liverpool. Another interesting feature about Liverpool’s structure was that Harvey Elliott at times played in the role of a very high and wide number 8 almost like an inverted right winger with Salah moving into the inside spaces.
The notable absentee in the game for City was Haaland who was out injured, but he watched his team gain an emphatic victory from the stands.
How the game panned out:
When the game began City was looking to play out from the back in a 3-2-5 shape and without the ball they pressed Liverpool in a 3-3-4 structure, while Liverpool was looking to build up in a 3-2-3-2 buildup structure with Gakpo dropping deep to into a false 9 role and Elliott moving into an advanced number 8 position, and one of the two full backs was positioned high and wide while the other came deep to assist in ball progression, out of possession Liverpool looked to press City in a narrow shape.
When the game began Liverpool tried to press high but was cautious of not engaging in a full-throttle Gegenpress, while City looked to play through Liverpool’s press.
The first half was a fairly even contest with City edging it slightly, Liverpool competed well in the first half and even took the lead by way of a Salah opener in the 17th minute which came as Liverpool played through the City press, Jota’s run behind the City Highline and his strength to hold off Akanji was instrumental for Liverpool in this play.Â
City had many close chances, particularly those which came the way of Mahrez, eventually, City equalised by way of a beautifully worked out team goal which was tapped into the net by Alvarez in the 27th minute.
In the second half, Manchester City was by far the better team.
They began the half on the front foot with De Bruyne netting in Mahrez’s cross to give City the lead within a minute of the restart, and as the game went on it became clear as to why City are the reigning Champions of the League as they ripped Liverpool apart. Gundogan and Grealish then piled more misery onto the visitors as they both scored in the 53rd and 74th minute respectively.
From City’s perspective after their 3rd goal, the game became more like a practice session for them as they toyed with a struggling Liverpool at will, Liverpool, on the other hand, was not even able to take possession of the ball and whenever they did they were not able to hold on to it, which summed up their evening.
