Man City (A) 12:30 - EPL - Saturday 25 Nov

[binomial]

Ali 6.5 - Terrible with his feet but to his credit made a few big saves at big moments.

Trent 7 - Would've been a 6 but not for the goal, lost every duel but 1 against Doku......don't care if it's Doku, you simply need to do better 1 on 1.
Matip 7 - Generally did ok.
Virgil 7.5 - as above. Both handled Haaland as well as they could've.
Kostas 8 - Thought he had a very good game, much better from him last 2 games.

Mac 5 - Another substandard performance. Slow and can't tackle for shit.
Jones 3 - Dreadful.
Szobo 6 - Better from him compared to his recent displays.

Salah 6 - Couldn't really get in the game.
Nunez 7 - Was quiet, little service but when he was involved is lead to our best chances (header first half) and few near post attempts.
Jota 1 - Pointless.

Grav did well when he came on, Diaz less so.

 

[Hansern]

Alisson gets that injury with 180 mins international football, 12 hour flight back and not enough time to recover. Hopefully just cramp.

 

[IGotALuvlyBunchOfCoconuts]

Good run by gakpo to draw Silva back and give Trent the space to score.

 

[Hyena]

Got to say Endo was much sorely needed those last ten minutes.

 

[Hansern]

Trent, Tsimikas and Matip probably our best players.
Fucking love that goal.

Even ratboy knows: Gary Neville: "he's not any RB, he's the RB"

 

[binomial]

I don’t think you can lump in todays start with the rest, we started very well in defence. City were just very good.

Started very well in defence? We forced ourselves into many needless situations where we almost gifted City chances. Trent was rinsed every single time out there....Kostas only one who played very well back there.

 

[jan]

Disappointed by Nunez not headbutting Guardiola

 

[Buddha]

I don’t ever want to see Mac Allister in the 6 again. Endo, limited as he is, is far more effective there.

 

[rurikbird]

There wasn’t at this stage. Everyone knows City will stroll the league again before they get kicked out.

It did seem so, maybe the players know something we don’t.

 

[Frogfish]

Personally think it was Doku

Trent motm.

Fair enough.

I'd have given it to doku

It was as I said elsewhere - no end product. He wouldn't be my MotM at all.

Matip my MotM.

 

[Modo]

Unfortunately Klopp doesn't think so.

 

[binomial]

Ali won't get credit because of his kicking and maybe got away with 1 on the corner when Dias scores but his save from Foden that would've made it 2-0 would've finished the game there and then.

 

[ibromurph]

We drew this game largely because City had no penetration through the middle.

Usually KDB would give them that. And he'd have killed us with his running with the ball in 2nd half. There was a lot of space between the lines.

Thankfully he was injured today.

 

[iseered]

I don’t ever want to see Mac Allister in the 6 again. Endo, limited as he is, is far more effective there.

Add Endo to the list of players who become very good by virtue of not playing

 

[ibromurph]

Oh and yeah, Matip my MOTM.

Largely superb. Covered a lot of space and won a few 1 v 1 battles with Doku.

 

[Buddha]

Add Endo to the list of players who become very good by virtue of not playing

Did I say he was ‘very good’? Nice strawman argument there.

 

[ibromurph]

12.30 KO was a blessing in disguise.

Their crowd had 0 energy. Start of the 2nd half, I thought we were playing in an empty stadium.

 

[dee]

It was as I said elsewhere - no end product. He wouldn't be my MotM at all.

Matip my MotM.

Harsh on Doku. He fed his fellow attacking players consistently throughout the game. We doubled and occasionally tripled up on him and he still made the pass

 

[iseered]

Did I say he was ‘very good’? Nice strawman argument there.

Sure. Truth is we don't have a good 6, and I don't think there's much between Endo and Mac Allister in that role (but the latter is better overall).

 

[Dreambeliever]

It did seem so, maybe the players know something we don’t.

I know it. Everyone is kidding themselves if they think anything but another city title is on the cards.

 

[dee]

Oh and yeah, Matip my MOTM.

Largely superb. Covered a lot of space and won a few 1 v 1 battles with Doku.

Defo our best player. But then all our stand out players were defensive

 

[Hansern]

12.30 KO was a blessing in disguise.

Their crowd had 0 energy. Start of the 2nd half, I thought we were playing in an empty stadium.

I doubt the time of KO has anything to do with the atmosphere. Its always shit at the Emptyhad

 

[Frogfish]

This felt fairly… friendly? Klopp and Pep look like they genuinely like each other. The players played like there is not much riding on the result. A bit weird.

12.30 KO after internationals.

 

[Hansern]

Had a very good game:

No #LFC player won possession more (10), contested more duels (15), or played more passes into the final 1/3 (8) than Alexander-Arnold today. He's the first LFC player to score & record as many as he did in all those metrics in a PL game since Steven Gerrard v Fulham in Nov '07.

 

[Buddha]

Matip was excellent today. I think I counted at least 4 key blockages / interceptions.

 

[SummerOnions]

 

[dee]

I know it. Everyone is kidding themselves if they think anything but another city title is on the cards.

Hmmm, probably but look at the bench today. Pep’s usually able to throw game changers on to make difference. Seems they are a little weaker in depth currently

 

[Hansern]

I don’t ever want to see Mac Allister in the 6 again. Endo, limited as he is, is far more effective there.

If you hear Klopps pre match presser you can understand why he wants to develop him as the 6.
It was Maccas pass that started the attack were we scored the 1-1 goal as well.

 

[rurikbird]

Quick ratings:
Alisson 6 - horrible kicking all game, but his saves kept us in the game
Trent 6.5 - poor defending for their goal; superb finish for his, OK in between.
Matip 7 MOTM - was given too much to do, but didn’t disappoint.
Van Dijk 6 - not very visible as they didn’t attack his side much
Tsimikas 6.5 - solid performance, good for him
MacAllister 6.5 - was given a difficult task, but made no major mistakes and won some important challenges
Szoboszlai 6 - couldn’t leave his mark on the game
Jones 5.5 - took surprising amount of risks, some worked out and others put us in trouble
Jota 6 - diligent defensively, nothing happening at the other end
Nunez 6.5 - his movement attracted chances, but didn’t have anything clear-cut. Bonus points for swearing at Pep in Spanish.
Salah 6.5 - couldn’t get past Ake, but still was our best chance creator by far

Subs:
Diaz 5.5 - barely touched the ball, poor execution on a couple of occasions when he got it
Gravenberch 7 - breath of fresh air in midfield, wasn’t fazed by City players and glided past them easily on occasion. Great pass for Diaz on 98th minute.
Gakpo 6 - a selfless tactical shift
Endo 6.5 - made our midfield harder to get through in closing stages
Elliott 5 - last thing we needed was him losing the ball needlessly in the closing stages.

 

[darkstarexodus]

Trent and Tsimikas both defended very well today, I thought. (Yes, Trent should have done better on their goal. But he otherwise held up well under a huge threat.) Matip great too.

We executed the gameplan really well today. A bit more decisiveness near their box in the first half and we really could have put the screws to them.