The Manchester City Vs Liverpool Premier League encounter certainly lived up to expectations as the match of the season with some fine football display from both teams.
City however had the last laugh after they blew the title race wide open by inflicting Liverpool’s first defeat of the season with an engrossing 2-1 victory.
Sergio Aguero proved the scourge of Liverpool again with a clinical near-post drive – his seventh goal in seven home appearances against the Reds – at the end of a frenetic first half, which saw Sadio Mane strike the post and John Stones hook his own deflected clearance off the line with millimetres to spare.
Roberto Firmino pulled one back for the Reds before Leroy Sane all but cemented Liverpool’s defeat with a low across goal from the left.
Player ratings
Man City: Ederson (7), Danilo (6), Kompany (8), Stones (8), Laporte (7), Fernandinho (7), Bernardo Silva (8), Sterling (7), David Silva (6), Sane (8), Aguero (8).
Subs: Gundogan (6), Walker (n/a), Otamendi (n/a).
Liverpool: Alisson (7), Alexander-Arnold (7), Lovren (6), Van Dijk (7), Robertson (7), Henderson (6), Milner (6), Wijnaldum (7), Salah (6), Firmino (7), Mane (6).
Subs: Fabinho (6), Sturridge (n/a), Shaqiri (5).
Man of the Match: Fernandinho.
Opta stats
- Man City ended Liverpool’s unbeaten Premier League start to the season in the 21st match – only Arsenal in 2003-04 (38 games), Man Utd in 2010-11 (24) and Man City in 2017-18 (22) have had longer unbeaten starts to a Premier League season.
- This was only Man City’s second win in their last 12 matches against Liverpool in all competitions (D3 L7), winning at the Etihad in the Premier League in each of the last two seasons.
- Since the start of the 2011-12 season, Sergio Aguero has scored 37 Premier League goals for Man City in meetings between ‘big six’ clubs – 16 more than any other player.
- Liverpool have lost 10 of their 25 matches in all competitions under Jurgen Klopp in the month of January (W8 D7), making up 29% of his total defeats as Reds boss (10 of 35).
- Sergio Aguero has scored in all seven of his Premier League appearances for Manchester City against Liverpool at the Etihad, scoring one goal in each game.
- Since the start of last season, Leroy Sane has been involved in 26 goals in 25 home Premier League appearances for Manchester City (9 goals, 17 assists).
- Roberto Firmino has scored his 10th goal of the season for Liverpool in all competitions, registering double figures for the fourth consecutive season (11 in 2015-16, 12 in 2016-17, 27 in 2017-18).