Manchester City – Liverpool: City Demolish Reds In Pep Guardiola’s 1000th Game (3-0)

Manchester City demolished Liverpool 3-0 at the Etihad, commemorating Pep Guardiola’s 1000th game as a manager with a statement win. Goals from Erling Haaland, Nico Gonzalez and Jeremy Doku sank Liverpool as the Reds couldn’t mount any semblance of a comeback. The win propelled City into 2nd place in the Premier League table.

Tactical analysis and match report by Gaurav Krishnan.

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It’s been a long haul & journey for Pep Guardiola from the heart of sunny Catalunya to stormy Manchester. The Catalan manager has arguably birthed the modern era of the build-up with many managers reiterating the Guardiolista philosophy & school of thought. In a career spanning 1000 games as a manager, this game, his 1000th, ended with a spectacular statement win against Arne Slot’s floundering Liverpool side who seem far from the well-oiled machine they were last season.

In many ways, Guardiola has seen revolutions come and go, yet his more pragmatic blueprint this season is a reinvention from his classical possession-centric style of play. Arguably, the model has stayed the same but with that little bit more emphasis on defending, OOP and closing out games, something City have struggled with since last season’s poor run after the injury to Rodri.

However, this game was Guardiola’s biggest statement win of the season so far. For all of Liverpool’s success last season, this season has seen an evident imbalance in attack, ushered by the new arrivals where Slot’s working system from last season has been shunted in favour of accommodating the summer signings: as the old proverb goes, you perhaps shouldn’t fix something that isn’t broken. In this game Slot tinkered further, this time starting Florian Wirtz on the left flank & reverting to his tried & tested midfield of last season.


But things didn’t pan out favourably for Slot despite his attempt at selecting something slightly familiar his blueprint of last season. Liverpool were second best for most parts of the game with City shading possession (51%) but offering a larger goal threat(1.51 xG). And after Virgil van Dijk’s header from a corner was cancelled out for offside, Liverpool simply couldn’t find a way back into the game.

City were at their rampant best, and inspite of a penalty from Erling Haaland saved by Liverpool keeper Mamardashvili, the inevitable Haaland scored the opener yet again. A long range strike from Nico Gonzalez that deflected off Van Dijk into the Liverpool net made it two and Jeremy Doku who was a menace, terrorising Conor Bradley all night, scored the third in the second half as Guardiola’s Sky Blues finished the job against the Reds.

This was a huge statement win for Guardiola’s City this campaign, and perhaps their most critical game of the first half of the season and the Citizens saw it off comfortably. For Liverpool, Arne Slot has to reassess and readjust once again after yet another game where his shiny new toys have again failed against their more free-flowing opponents. There’s a lot of work for Slot to do under the Liverpool hood, especially if he is to get the Reds contending for top honours again, with this season seeming like it’s slipping through the cracks.

Pep Guardiola lined up his City side in a 4-3-3 shape. Gianluigi Donnarumma started in goal with a back four of Matheus Nunes at right-back, Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardioal at center-back and Nico O’Reilly at left-back. Nico Gonzalez anchored the midfield in the pivot with Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden just ahead of him in central midfield. Rayan Cherki and Jeremy Doku started on the right and left flank, respectively, with Erling Haaland through the middle as the central striker.

Arne Slot fielded his Liverpool side in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Giorgi Mamardashvili started in goal with a back four of Conor Bradley at right-back, Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Dijk at center-back and Andy Robertson at left-back. The midfield double pivot was anchored by Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister with Dominik Szoboszlai in the no.10 slot. Mohamed Salah started down the right, Florian Wirtz down the left as Hugo Ekitike started as the center-forward.

City’s 3-2-5 Central Overload & Early Penalty Drama As Haaland Breaks The Deadlock

In their IP shape City’s 4-3-3 base shifted to a 3-2-5 and provided midfield solidity with Nico Gonzalez as the lone pivot, allowing Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden to rotate centrally moving into the pockets or dropping deep to build up play, mainly Bernardo Silva for the latter. This shape created a lot of central 3v2 overloads as Silva and Foden rotated in a double-eight role, along with the inverted movements of City’s wide players, often with one of Silva or Foden dropping deep to receive between the lines, pulling Liverpool’s double pivot of Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister out of position.

The City wingers Rayan Cherki and Jeremy Doku, meanwhile, operated narrow, inverting to create 3-2-5/3-1-6 build-up structures again focusing on midfield overloads in build up & then attacking the flanks after the ball progressed, while fullbacks Matheus Nunes and Nico O’Reilly provided width and progression down the flanks creating wide overloads.

Minute 31’ City build up in a 3-2-5 in their IP shape. Bernardo Silva drops to link up play from the back in the midfield 2 base, while Doku & Cherki invert close to Foden to create a 3v2 overload in the central area against Mac Allister and Gravenberch.

Statistically, City completed 92% of passes in their defensive third compared to Liverpool’s 78% with 14 progressive passes from fullbacks alone, further reinforcing their dominance in progression & use of wide overloads. Against Liverpool’s man-oriented press, this fluidity ensured a +1 numerical superiority centrally as the City widemen took up inverted positions and then moved out wide, in fluid rotations.

City’s press meanwhile was a hallmark of Pep Guardiola’s typical aggressive deployment, in what was a lopsided 4-1-4-1 that funnelled play toward Konate, Liverpool’s weakest ball-player on the right. Foden jumped aggressively from central zones to block Van Dijk’s long diagonals, while Doku and Cherki squeezed the wide outlets. Haaland, meanwhile, dropped selectively to cover Mac Allister.

This trap forced 17 long balls from Mamardashvili with City winning 68% of second balls via Gonzalez and Bernardo Silva’s central sweeping. Guardiola’s press was man to man and patient baiting errors especially from Konate who touched the ball 45 times, the most for Liverpool, but under pressure, he completed just 72% of his passes. City’s PPDA of 8.2 reflected this as well, turning their turnovers into dangerous counters.

Minute 15’ City baiting Konate in a press trap which was a common theme in the game. City press man to man with a lopsided press to funnel Konate wide targeting his weak distribution.

City probed with patient build-up while Liverpool’s press was tentative. A 10th-minute giveaway by Konate led to Haaland’s penalty after Bradley fouled Doku. But Mamardashvili’s low save to his left kept the game level. But Haaland is almost inevitable, as City’s overloads paid off. Ruben Dias fed Nunes who was making an overlapping run and the City full-back’s floated cross was met by Haaland’s towering header into the corner, evading Konate to give City the lead. In truth, Haaland made it look easy but it was a difficult header to score.

Liverpool’s Build-Up Woes

Liverpool built in a 4-2-3-1 to 4-2-4 with Mamardashvili distributing short to Van Dijk or Konate. The pivot stayed deep, screening for Szoboszlai’s runs into half-spaces, while fullbacks Bradley and Robertson provided width. Wirtz inverted from the left, drifting inside to combine with Mac Allister, aiming to overload City’s right flank. Ekitike dropped to link up play, but his lack of mobility & lack of holding onto the ball under City pressure was telling, as telling as Salah’s isolation on the right.

Liverpool’s shape faltered against City’s narrow 4-1-4-1 block. Konate who was evidently uncomfortable on the ball, was repeatedly targeted, leading to 11 turnovers in his half. Switches to Robertson on the opposite flank were rare, with only 4 attempts (as per Opta), as Wirtz’s inward movements & positioning down the Liverpool left resulted in their left flank becoming rather unbalanced. Liverpool completed 87% of their passes but managed just 7 in the final third, highlighting their progression woes & lack of ideas.

Van Dijk headed into the net from a Szoboszlai corner in the 35th minute, but VAR ruled it out, adjudging that Andy Robertson was offside & interfering with the goalkeeper Donnarumma, and the score stayed 1-0 to City.


Later in the first half, Nico Gonzalez’s long-range effort took a deflection off Van Dijk to fly into the Liverpool net, making it 2-0 to the home side.

Doku Torments Bradley & Seals The Win For City

Liverpool in their OOP shape were positioned in a 4-2-3-1 mid block. Slot perhaps wanted to ensure his midfielders won the midfield battle, but in the game, City’s central overloads almost always created a 3v2 in midfield in favour of City against the Liverpool double pivot of Mac Allister and Gravenberch, with Szoboszlai left higher up the pitch. Liverpool’s wide players also didn’t tuck inside to cover or congest the midfield lanes, and Wirtz after another poor showing was substituted for Gakpo in the 56th minute.

Liverpool’s OOP vs City’s 3-2-5 build up. Liverpool’s OOP shape was a rigid 4-2-3-1.

City’s OOP shape was largely a 4-1-4-1 mid block for most parts of the game. However, this became a more defensive 5-3-2 to 6-3-1 post the 80th minute mark as Guardiola turned pragmatic to manage the game and ensure Liverpool weren’t allowed any inroads & to perhaps preserve the clean sheet.

Minute 85’ Pep goes ultra defensive with a six man back line to close the game. City’s OOP shape here is a 6-3-1.

But perhaps the game’s star man was Jeremy Doku. He was a menace all night against Bradley down the City left flank. Doku cut inside to curl a shot into the Liverpool net in the 63rd minute and in truth, he tormented Bradley all evening attempting 11 dribbles and completing 8 against the young Liverpool full-back.

After that goal, Liverpool were completely flattened but still probed slightly but to no avail. In the end City saw off the result and the clean sheet, marking Pep Guardiola’s 1000th game with a huge victory.

Takeaways

Sitting four points behind leaders Arsenal, City have rediscovered some form. Liverpool, by contrast, find themselves mired in 8th place, eight points adrift and reeling from a fifth defeat in six Premier league outings, which is a stark fall from grace for a club that won the Premier League last season and began the campaign with title aspirations under Arne Slot.

Manchester City’s experienced system under the now more cautious Guardiola is proving to be astute management. Meanwhile, Liverpool’s ongoing adaptation issues now seem glaring, especially after their summer splurge & the lack of cohesion since.

City operated with smooth, and threatening accuracy, while Slot’s ambitious plans ahead of the season are now held back by repeated mistakes in execution & mismatches all over the pitch. For City, the route to another Premier League title is becoming slightly clearer, although it’s arguably Arsenal’s to lose. However, it’s still only November, so anything can happen. Meanwhile for Liverpool, they’re left picking up the pieces as the focus has shifted from competing for all top honours, to simply stopping a decline that could derail their entire season.

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