Analysis from Ian Doyle after Liverpool’s clash with Manchester City in the Premier League.
Klopp calls pay off
Shutting down the most feared attack in English football is a difficult task at the best of times.
So it wasn’t ideal that Liverpool stepped out against Manchester City minus four of their first-choice back five with a defence that had only twice started together before.
And, boy, did it show during a harrowing opening period in which the Reds’ understandable lack of understanding was graphically exposed as City threatened every time they went forward which, with the home side regularly coughing up possession, was often.
The manner in which the visitors eventually found a way through, however, will have been hugely frustrating. Being out done by Pep Guardiola-inspired flowing football is on thing, being duped by a well-worked corner routine quite another.
Slowly but surely, though, Klopp’s major calls began to pay off. Jarell Quansah, preferred as centre-back replacement for the crocked Ibrahima Konate, took inspiration from skipper Virgil van Dijk with a composed display – already becoming his trademark – to help ensure Erling Haaland had few sights at goal. Salah, who was on the pitch an hour less, had more touches than the blunted Norwegian.
Conor Bradley was among Liverpool’s best players in the first half before being replaced on the hour by the impressive Andy Robertson, which allowed Joe Gomez to redeem himself after a very difficult opening 45 minutes at left-back up against Phil Foden with a much better outing on the opposite flank. If ever there was a game where Liverpool learned on the job, it was here.
VAR does it again
It seems incongruous given the superb, quality-laden entertainment Liverpool and Manchester City had just provided.
But that talk following the final whistle gravitated around another hugely contentious refereeing decision said much about the tiresome debate regarding the application of VAR and the personnel asked to implement the technology.
Michael Oliver had already given Liverpool one stonewall penalty when another appeared in the offing after City substitute Jeremy Doku placed his foot in the chest of Alexis Mac Allister in the last minute of injury time. Nothing doing, said Oliver, whose view was backed up by Stuart Attwell at Stockley Park. The subsequent explanation for the call did little to quell the Reds’ bemusement.
It will be interesting to see if the fallout from what could ultimately be a title-defining moment matches that from the incorrectly dropped ball that irked Nottingham Forest two minutes before the Reds’ winner last weekend.
While there has been the occasional rub of the green, Liverpool have greater reason than their main title rivals to be aggrieved by key calls this season. Indeed, it was against Arsenal here in December that Martin Odegaard escaped a handball that referees’ chief Howard Webb later admitted should have been a penalty.
But, if events since the still astonishing error at Tottenham Hotspur in September proved anything, it’s that Klopp’s side will carry on regardless. Any success this season has – and will to continue to – come unaided.
Title fight only just starting
And breathe. After slugging it out since the turn of the year, there is a three-week break before Liverpool, City and fellow title rivals Arsenal are next in Premier League action.
While the Gunners now lead on goal difference from the Reds, their next assignment is at the Etihad, the first tricky fixture of what appears a more difficult run-in than the other two championship challengers.
With emotive trips to Old Trafford and Goodison still to come, Liverpool aren’t without their major tests. None, though, will be as difficult as the one they negotiated against City to extend their record to just two defeats in their last 48 games in domestic competitions.
Klopp, meanwhile, has ensured Guardiola won’t have got the better of him during his time in charge at Liverpool, having won eight and lost seven of their 22 encounters.
Yes, there will be regret at Luis Diaz’s missed chances, but the Reds’ hugely impressive second-half recovery underlined they are here for the duration. And with the cavalry yet to return, this title battle is only just getting started.