Liverpool v Man City, Premier League The42

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3:51P.M

Hello and welcome to today’s live blog.

Liverpool enter this game in poor shape by their standards.

After a 68 game unbeaten streak at Anfield, they have now lost two in a row there.

In total, Jurgen Klopp’s team have lost points in six of their last eight league games.

City, by contrast, has an impressive shape. A victory would take them 10 points ahead of the Reds with one game less.

In total, Pep Guardiola’s men are undefeated in their last 13 Premier League matches, 11 of which were victories.

Klopp played down his team’s title chances following the weeknight loss to Brighton, and a loss today would be another blow to those aspirations.

He has a feeling that even Liverpool’s four other rivals may be cheering for them today, given how unstoppable City has been lately amid suspicions that they might be ready to win the title at some distance.

3:53P.M

Confirmation of equipment …

4:22P.M

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Sprinklers irrigate the pitch before the Premier League match at Anfield.

Source: PA

4:25P.M

Pre-game reading for you …

4:34P.M

Early concern for City as Ilkay Gundogan falls injured.

He is currently receiving treatment, but it looks like he will be fine to continue.

Before that, Ederson made an unconvincing punt, but Liverpool failed to make the most of his subsequent attack.

4:42P.M

So far it has been quite complicated and time consuming.

Neither party has created any real chances of getting noticed.

4:49P.M

It’s that old cliche that the two parties ‘cancel each other out’ until now.

There is no real pattern in the game.

City have probably outgrown possession so far, but most football has been played in front of the respective defenses.

Sky has described the beginning of this game as “tentative”.

4:56P.M

Gary Neville has been very critical of Liverpool on Sky.

“Watch them walk,” he says, adding that the Reds have dropped their “exceptional” standards from previous seasons.

They’ve certainly seemed like a team on autopilot at times thus far, rather than producing their usual rapid-fire attacks.

This game has been quite disappointing overall, with only two attempts on goal.

As I write, Alexander-Arnold shows a nice trick on the right to escape his marker. However, Mane cannot hit the target with a header in the middle of a difficult angle from a center of the English side.

5 o’clockP.M

A Henderson center is half clear.

It falls to Firmino, whose powerful shot from the edge of the area is overturned by Ederson.

5:03P.M

Liverpool have improved in the last minutes.

They have had 72% of possession in the last 10 minutes and are putting pressure on their opponents.

City have been unusually toothless in attack, though Liverpool haven’t created much either.

5:11P.M

Suddenly this game comes to life.

It is a bad penalty from Gundogan, who tries to place it in the upper corner, but in the end he hits it well outside the goal.

The penalty came after a clumsy challenge from Fabinho on Sterling, with the winger taking advantage of the defender’s outstretched leg, following a hot run from the English international who saw him pass through Alexander-Arnold.

5:16P.M

Mane escapes from the City defenders and gets to the end of the Alexander-Arnold corner.

However, it is a docile header from the Senegalese international, who Ederson saves with ease.

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5:18P.M

HALF TIME: LIVERPOOL 0-0 MAN CITY

5:24P.M

Half time and it was a strange game.

Both teams are playing with a remarkable degree of caution, as if they believe that avoiding defeat is more important than seeking victory.

City obviously had the best chance of the match, with Gundogan’s penalty missed after a sloppy challenge from Fabinho, but otherwise hardly threatened.

The hosts, meanwhile, have had a chance or two, but for the most part they have seemed like a team on a losing streak.

There is little between the teams at the moment, and it is difficult to predict how it will develop, although if both sides maintain their first-half focus, surely the most likely outcome is a draw.

5:33P.M

The second half has begun …

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5:37P.M

LIVERPOOL 0-1 MAN CITY (GUNDOGAN 50)

5:39P.M

The city takes the initiative, as its system change pays dividends.

Sterling goes through Alexander-Arnold again, before placing Foden.

The young man’s shot saves him Alisson, but Gundogan he’s on hand to slide the rebound home and repair his previous penalty foul.

5:42P.M

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Manchester City’s Ilkay Gundogan misses a penalty in the first half.

Source: PA

5:47P.M

Alexander-Arnold finds Curtis Jones with a good diagonal ball.

The subsequent low shot of the young man from the edge of the area on the left side of the area goes off the far post.

Liverpool need to play with that kind of urgency more consistently.

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5:51P.M

LIVERPOOL 1-1 MAN CITY (WRONG 63)

5:54P.M

Liverpool matches out of nowhere!

It’s a routine Alexander-Arnold ball.

Dias can’t deal with it, before making contact with the avalanche. Incorrect, which led the Egyptian to come down.

Salah then scores the penalty, driving it high and down the middle, with Ederson diving to his left.

5:57P.M

Liverpool make a double substitution.

Milner and Shaqiri are active, while Thiago and Jones are out.

As I write, a ball falls very well for Silva, after a good job in preparation on the side of Sterling, but the City attacker cuts his shot from the edge of the area.

59 minutes ago

City have the ball in the net, but it is ruled out for being slightly offside.

Stones thought he had regained the City advantage when he returned home after Foden’s delivery.

The City, meanwhile, make a change, with Gabriel Jesús replacing Mahrez.

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58 minutes ago

LIVERPOOL 1-2 MAN CITY (GUNDOGAN 74)

56 minutes ago

The city takes the lead again.

It’s a terrible clearance attempt by Alisson.

Foden still has a lot of work to do, beating Henderson on the left, before his perfect cross finds Gundogan, which has an easy touch.

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55 minutes ago

LIVERPOOL 1-3 MAN CITY (ESTERLINA 76)

53 minutes ago

City scores again and Alisson fouls again.

His back pass goes straight to Silva. Throws a cross over the goalkeeper’s head, with Pound sterling in the right place to play at home.

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49 minutes ago

LIVERPOOL 1-4 MAN CITY (FODEN 84)

46 minutes ago

Foden puts the ice on the cake with a superb shot from a low angle.

Arguably Alisson could have done better, but it’s a really powerful effort from a player who has been the best footballer in the park and is showing real signs that he is ready to develop his undoubted potential.

39 minutes ago

Phil Foden, unsurprisingly, has been named man of the match.

Gary Neville on Sky suggests that he has “come of age”.

We are in the middle of three minutes of detention time.

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38 minutes ago

FULL TIME: LIVERPOOL 1-4 MAN CITY

27 minutes ago

liverpool-v-manchester-city-premier-league-anfield

Phil Foden of Manchester City scores the fourth goal of the game for his team.

Source: PA

25 minutes ago

Well that’s all from me for now.

Thanks for reading and commenting.

You can read our match report here and we will have more reactions below.



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