Manchester City 0-2 Liverpool: Player Ratings and Match Highlights

Losers

Trent Alexander-Arnold struggled a little with Jeremy Doku, though it didn’t always lead to much. Salah and Ibrahima Konate helped him out but the Scouser couldn’t move his feet fast enough to match the fleet-footed Belgian winger. It ultimately didn’t make any difference in the game but that was a possible outlet for Manchester City to exploit. The biggest loser, really, was Arsenal.

Player ratings

Alisson Becker (7). What the Brazilian had to do, he did well and kept everything clean and tidy. He wasn’t tested anywhere near as much as he might have expected, however, heading into the game.

Trent Alexander-Arnold (6). Jeremy Doku gave him the runaround early on, when he just couldn’t seem to move his feet quickly enough to keep up with the tricky Belgian. He got into one excellent position to cross around the half-hour mark but made the wrong decision. He improved against Doku as time went on but didn’t have a great impact going forward.

Ibrahima Konate (7). On one occasion in the first half, he gave possession away sloppily which could have caused his side an issue. He was generally solid, though, and was well-positioned to defend a number of crosses at the near post.

Virgil van Dijk (8). Made a number of good blocks and organized his defense as he always does. He was aerially dominant and cruised along without having to overstretch himself, mainly as a result of sensational positioning.

Andy Robertson (6). Savinho has the pace and trickery to cause him problems but the Liverpool left-back did reasonably well to keep under control. With Kevin De Bruyne on that side too it wouldn’t have been easy. Just before he came off in the second half, he got turned a couple of times. Like Alexander-Arnold, didn’t have a huge attacking influence.

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Ryan Gravenberch (7). He has looked exhausted lately but rose to the occasion. There was nothing sloppy about him here and his legs found some energy, helped by Mac Allister being close by his side most of the time. Wataru Endo came on the close the result out too.

Alexis Mac Allister (7). The Argentine has not been at his best in his last couple of appearances but was always going to start in a game as big as this one. It was absolutely the right call. Mac Allister showed up, like Gravenberch, and performed well in both of the positions he played.

Dominik Szoboszlai (8). One of the midfielders who has looked full of energy even with so many minutes under his belt, he added a second goal in the game and never, ever stopped. He probably followed the referee, Anthony Taylor, down the tunnel to continue chasing after the ball even with the final whistle long gone.

Mohamed Salah (8). Had Nathan Ake scrambling a couple of times in that inside left position of the Manchester City defense. Scored the opening goal from a well-worked set piece and just keeps producing magic during arguably his best individual season. Defensively, he really put in an impressive shift, which should be highlighted.

Curtis Jones (7). Playing as a false nine with Diaz off the left, it is a position that suits his game, though it doesn’t say much for Darwin Nunez, who was left on the bench. Jones was excellent and really pressed well until he tired in the second half.

Luis Diaz (7). Deployed in his best position, the Colombian looked lively without going past Rico Lewis too many times. He looks considerably more comfortable there than through the middle.

Substitutes

Wataru Endo (6). Came on the shore the game up and did just that. Nothing really changed in the final throes and in part, that was because of the Japanese captain.

Kostas Tsimikas (6). Replaced Robertson in what was likely a pre-planned swap given how many minutes the Scot has played recently. The Greek did fine against Savinho.

Cody Gakpo (6). Returning from injury, the Dutch forward offered some fresh legs to help see his side over the line. He didn’t need to do much other than that for the victory to be secured. (Harvey Elliott and Jarell Quansah also came on but too late to earn a rating).