Manchester City now find themselves 11 points behind league leaders Liverpool.
It is a completely different situation than was expected at the beginning of the season. Manchester City, coming off a sixth Premier League title win in seven years, were widely expected to win the Premier League yet again this season. Pep Guardiola, who recently signed a contract extension to see him through the Etihad to 2026, was thought to battle it out with Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal for the title. Liverpool were considered to be in a transition season with new coach Arne Slot arriving in place of Anfield legend Jurgen Klopp.
However, the situation has since changed.
City have now lost their sixth game in their last seven in all competitions and are currently 5th in the Premier League table, level on points with Brighton. It signifies a deeper issue in the City infrastructure beyond the absence of Ballon d’Or winner Rodri, and Guardiola must significantly tinker with his team to get them back to winning ways.
Liverpool were smooth and dominant. The first 25 minutes were reminiscent of peak Klopp Liverpool, relentlessly attacking and pressing the opposition with the Kop in full voice until the opposition conceded. As the match progressed, Liverpool sat back and allowed Manchester City to regain possession, but they still struggled to find a way to score as Liverpool would hit them on the counterattack.
The Reds finished the game with a significantly higher xG (3.57 to 0.84) and shots on target (7 to 2) and never once looked out of control of the game. City’s best chance of the game came from a Virgil van Dijk mistake, which allowed Kevin de Bruyne to run through 1v1 on goal but was denied by backup Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher, who has been excellent during his stint as first-choice goalkeeper during Alisson’s absence.
With the result, Liverpool have now beaten the reigning English and European Champions after defeating Real Madrid 2-0 a few days before. They will now be considered the favorites for the league title as we approach the midway point of the season. Arne Slot in his post-match press conference wisely downplayed the title talk:
“It’s not about winning once or twice. If you want to win anything, you have to be consistent. I saw Arsenal yesterday and I saw Chelsea today, they are all capable of having the same winning streak we have. So let’s not get carried away by one or two wins. It’s all about consistency until the end of the season, keeping the players fit and playing with this much energy.”
Where does Manchester City go from here?
The January transfer window will allow them to bring reinforcements to lacking areas. Defensive midfielder Martin Zubimendi has been widely circulated as a name to fill the midfield void, and further tactical tweaking by Guardiola will inevitably get them back to winning ways. Their next opponent, 17th-place Crystal Palace, will give them a perfect opportunity.
For Guardiola, there is a parallel between his latter years at City and Jurgen Klopp’s latter years at Liverpool. During Klopp’s twilight years, it was clear that cracks were forming within the foundations, and his team often looked bereft of ideas on the pitch. This could be thanks to Liverpool and Manchester City spending the majority of the decade pushing each other to 100+ point seasons as new standards — ultimately to the point of exhaustion. Similar to Klopp reaching his limit, Guardiola is showing signs he may soon be reaching his.
