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Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp’s intentions could not have been more obviously positive, but there will be little doubt that he will be happier with a draw at Etihad Stadium than his Manchester City counterpart Pep Guardiola.
Klopp left the game’s most important selection question up in the air when asked whether he would choose the tried and trusted Roberto Firmino or the £ 45 million signing Diogo Jota after his Champions League hat-trick against Atalanta.
When the team sheet fell, it caused them to raise their eyebrows as Klopp leaned over to Jota. And Firmino. And Mohamed Salah. And Sadio Mane. It was, when Liverpool leaped forward, a genuine four-man attack line.
In this battle between the two most recent Premier League superpowers, he puzzled City from the start, bringing in Salah’s successful penalty before Guardiola handled Liverpool’s tactics, Gabriel Jesus tied before Kevin de Bruyne missed a penalty.
The recent heavy schedule, a midweek Champions League and a persistent downpour from Manchester slowly reduced energy and quality against Manchester City and Liverpool settled for a 1-1 draw.
It will have left Guardiola and Klopp feeling less than satisfied, the City manager because victory over Liverpool is always a valuable psychological and soccer blow in the title equation and the latter because it meant that his team could not beat Leicester City in the Premier League. summit.
Klopp, however, will surely be the happiest man despite his latest complaints about hard work that left his high-energy Liverpool team, or at least some of them, with nothing long before the end.
It also ended in another injury, this time for Trent Alexander-Arnold, who will miss the next England games and which brings us to the reason why Klopp, when his natural desire for victory in each game diminishes, he will be more satisfied with a point.
Liverpool faced many questions as Virgil van Dijk was relegated to the field for the remainder of the season after knee surgery and Thiago Alcántara, the most important signing of the summer, set the pace and brought composure to the winning team of the Liga de Champions of Bayern Munich, suffered injuries. in the Merseyside derby against Everton.
Since then, Klopp lost Fabinho, an excellent replacement for Van Dijk and a world-class midfielder, but the results have kept coming.
Liverpool had won five games in a row before this visit to the Etihad Stadium and youngsters like Rhys Williams and Nat Phillips have played their part.
Here, however, Klopp needed experienced hands like Joel Matip and Joe Gomez and they did an excellent job of keeping City at arm’s length for long periods.
Liverpool visibly tired in the second half and Manchester City, a team that still retains so much class and creativity, assumed control of possession and territory.
Despite this they still struggled to crack Liverpool’s defensive code, the clearest opportunity in the second half came when Jesús slipped his attention and he should have done much better than directing a Ferran Torres cross.
Guardiola will hardly be heartbroken, though De Bruyne’s failed pitch will irritate him. This already seems like the kind of title race where seat belts need to be fastened for the twists and turns to come.
Manchester City have not been at their best so far this season, but don’t be fooled by that 11th place in the Premier League table.
Guardiola and his players will rightly feel they have a great opportunity to reclaim their title amid the chaos and unpredictability that may well engulf this season, but their forehead will have been considerably more wrinkled than Klopp’s.
The German will be delighted that despite all of Liverpool’s offensive riches, and he started with many, there is also a stubborn streak of steel, organization and stamina that makes them so difficult to beat on these big occasions.
The Liverpool manager likes to win every game at all levels. He knows that despite his great successes and the arrival of the Champions League and the first Premier League title in 30 years at Anfield, this cannot be done.
There are days and games when the circumstances and the quality of the opponents make one point sufficient. This match at Manchester City was one of those occasions.
