While it’s always possible to lose away at the Etihad, Liverpool will be upset with the manner of their defeat this Sunday. Even though the Reds actually did okay when it came to limiting Manchester City’s
chances (without the penalty, the xG was at 0.72 for open play and other set plays, which could be a healthy number on another day), and have a strong argument that their goal was incorrectly ruled out, the level of play from Liverpool was never good enough for a sustained period.
In terms of fitness, you would never know that Liverpool were the side with the extra day of rest; Manchester City looked fresher and Liverpool’s press and accuracy seemed off. The Liverpool vice captain spoke to the press today about the team’s feelings about the performance:
“Obviously, we’ve given ourselves a huge uphill battle, but I don’t think any of the teams will really look at the league table until we’re halfway through. That’s what we’ve got to do but we’ve got to pick up points on a more consistent basis. Then let’s see where we are after Christmas time or whatever. We’ve just got to focus on ourselves and focus on performance levels.
“I don’t think you can talk about the title this early on in the season, regardless of what position you’re in, but you need to then consistently start winning games again for that to even come into question. It’s definitely not a question that’s getting spoken about in the changing room or anything.
“We just need to get back to the levels that we know we can, the levels that we brought the last two games [against Villa and Real] in particular. If we do that on a more regular basis, then we pick up more points than we won’t.
“We wanted to end a really strong week but it wasn’t meant to be. We were making strides and then obviously getting a knock.”
Liverpool would have wanted to go into the international break on the high of the previous two performances, but instead have a stark view of the hill still left to climb.
