It was, as expected, and as is often the case when these two teams face each other, a match of crazy intensity. This Saturday, at the opening of the 13th day of the Premier League, Manchester City conceded a draw at home against Liverpool (1-1), at the end of a very high level meeting, particularly on the physical level. and tactics. This result does not suit the Citizens, who could lose their place as leader of the English Championship in the event of success for Arsenal (currently third) at Brentford (kick-off this Saturday at 6:30 p.m.).
At the Etihad, the Sky Blues and the Reds have thus developed comparable qualities, whether in the precision of their pressing and the ability of their midfielders to make themselves available. Manchester City generally dominated the debates thanks to superior ball possession (60%) and remarkable individual performances, with Ederson very serene in his restarts and on the line (he made beautiful saves against Darwin Nunez in the 16th and in the 72nd), an exceptional Bernardo Silva for the accuracy of his transmissions and two untenable wingers (Jérémie Doku and Phil Foden).
On the contrary, Liverpool were weighed down by a few individuals below their usual level, notably Mohamed Salah (who gave the impression of being tired for a long time) and Alisson, whose kicking game proved defective (11th, 19th , 27th, 90+7th). It was also after a failed clearance by the Liverpool goalkeeper that City opened the scoring: Nathan Aké then recovered the ball 40 meters from the goal, then found Erling Haaland, who scored with a nice cross shot from the left ( 1-0, 27th). It was the Norwegian’s 50th Premier League goal, in just… 48 matches.
Then the Reds had opportunities to equalize on the counter, but Nunez (34th) and Luis Dias (79th) lacked promptness in their passes during these sequences. But, while the European champions chained dangerous chances, poorly concluded by Julian Alvarez (52nd) and Haaland (79th), it was ultimately Liverpool who equalized, against the run of play: well served by Salah at the Entering the area, Trent Alexander-Arnold followed with incredible speed a control and a low shot, with his right foot, which ended up in the side net (1-1, 80th).
City remained on 23 home wins
This action confirmed Manchester City’s tendency to concede too many goals in recent weeks and it helped to interrupt a crazy series, since Pep Guardiola’s players remained on 23 victories in a row at the Etihad. And above all this achievement from Alexander-Arnold, who until then had only delivered one assist in the Premier League in 2023-2024, confirms that the Reds have the temperament to stand up to City this season.
2023-11-25 14:29:07
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