Liverpool 2 Manchester City 0: tactical analysis

Liverpool swept aside Manchester City in convincing fashion with this 2-0 win at Anfield. The Reds attempted 19 shots to City’s seven, which is the most Pep Guardiola’s team have conceded in a game so far this season. After this strong showing, Arne Slot’s side are now nine points clear of Arsenal and Chelsea at the top of the Premier League, only 13 games into the 2024/25 campaign.

Liverpool’s first goal came after 12 minutes, but it is no exaggeration to say it had already been coming – including Virgil van Dijk hitting the post in a whirlwind start by the hosts. Soon after, an incisive long pass from Trent Alexander-Arnold found Mohamed Salah, who played a magnificent ball to the back post for Cody Gakpo to apply the finish.

Salah had a glorious chance to make it two in the second half, but put the ball over after racing through on goal. He then had the opportunity to make amends from the spot, after Stefan Ortega had bundled over Luis Díaz. The Egyptian attacker – who missed a penalty days earlier, against Real Madrid – demonstrated his mettle to put the game to bed.

Salah and his teammates also put a significant dent in Manchester City’s chances of winning another league title. After four championships in a row, for Guardiola’s City this defeat was an unprecedented fourth Premier League loss in succession, dropping them 11 points behind the leaders. Below, our UEFA-licensed coaches have highlighted the key tactical points from the game at Anfield.

How the managers saw it

“If you look at work rate, I think it was perfect [today],” said Slot. “I would’ve loved to see the second half the same as the first half, but the quality of their team is that much, that there are phases of the game when they have the ball. Then it’s up to us to defend really strong in and around our 18-yard box. If you want to win against City you have to be perfect in every part of the game; high press, low press, build-up, every part. We came close to perfection.”

“First, I would like congratulate Liverpool on a well-deserved win,” said Guardiola. “The first 20 minutes we experienced [intensity and pressure] like when we came here in our prime. If we give up at Anfield and are not consistent, we go home with a terrible result. [But] the team was there all the time [today].”

Liverpool’s opening movements

This was the first fixture of any kind Manchester City did not start favourites to win since April 2017 – and Liverpool lived up to that billing from the first whistle. Within the home side’s 4-3-3 structure, Gakpo and Salah threatened in behind City’s back line, with diagonal runs inside the visitors’ full-backs. Díaz – starting the game as the single centre-forward – dropped short between the lines, working with the movements of his midfielders. Mac Allister dropped alongside and sometimes deeper than Ryan Gravenberch. Meanwhile, Dominik Szoboszlai was often the one to run forward from midfield – mainly in the right inside channel. He often timed his movement to work around the dropping Díaz (below).

When City attempted to press Liverpool, they left space in behind. Mac Allister’s dropping drew out City’s central-midfield pair from their 4-4-2 out-of-possession shape. This created space for Díaz to drop and work around Szoboszlai, with Gravenberch occasionally moving wide and further manipulating City’s central midfielders. With the visitors’ centre-backs often dragged into midfield, runs from Salah and Gakpo then exploited the space in behind (below). Indeed, Liverpool’s wide attackers were consistent threats, not least when combining for the opening goal.

For the opening 20 minutes or so, Liverpool were dominant. As well as their forward passing, the home team’s press nullified most of City’s deeper build-up. Where possible they forced the ball one way, locking it towards the touchline. Díaz back-pressed into midfield, allowing Mac Allister or Szoboszlai to jump across and support the winger and full-back (below). With Guardiola’s team intent on building from the back via short passes, Liverpool were able to create attacks with high regains. They could easily have extended their lead in the first half.

Minimal wide threat from City

Having managed to keep the score at 1-0, Manchester City converted into a 3-2-4-1 shape in possession. As a result, they started to work the ball well enough to gain a foothold in the game. Manuel Akanji moved from centre-back into a double-pivot role alongside Bernardo Silva, with the back line readjusting to a trio. Despite these tweaks, they still lacked threat in the wide areas. Rico Lewis remained central instead of moving wide to City’s right (below), with Kyle Walker rarely advancing forward from his adapted right centre-back role. On the left, Matheus Nunes operated mostly in the inside channel. Despite occasionally moving wide, he also didn’t offer enough of an outlet to help play around Liverpool.

As a result, Liverpool’s first-half defensive task was much easier. They were able to simply focus on congesting the central spaces. Because of this central compactness, City’s back trio and the deepest of their pivots had a lot of the ball. The visitors’ had gained some control through more possession, but with only Nunes available for play around Liverpool’s compact block (below) – and getting no joy in 1v1s against Trent Alexander-Arnold – City needed almost perfect central combinations to penetrate into the penalty area. As a result, Erling Haaland and his teammates between the lines had little attacking involvement in the first half. The visitors needed a change in approach for the second period.

Guardiola’s changes and Liverpool’s low block

Guardiola gave Silva licence to drop towards and sometimes into the back-line trio, creating and better supporting play into wide areas. Meanwhile, Walker moved the other way, repositioning high and wide on the right to give an option to attack around or in behind. Crucially, this also forced Gakpo to track back, which reduced his counter-attacking threat for much of the second half. Akanji remained as the focal point in central midfield, with Phil Foden and Lewis as number 10s around Haaland (below). On City’s left, Ilkay Gündogan drifted wide to link play. These adaptations served to pin Liverpool back for longer periods in the second half.

Guardiola then added two wingers, bringing on Jérémy Doku for Nunes, and Savinho for Gündogan, shortly before the hour mark. City’s ability to attack around Liverpool was instantly improved. Doku and Savinho attacked the full-backs 1v1, beating them regularly enough to progress into the final third. Foden and Silva, now operating as the 10s, supported Haaland in attacking any crosses, and offered passes back inside for City to combine and create centrally. Underneath, double pivots Lewis and Akanji helped to lock the play in Liverpool’s half (below), giving City their best spell of the match.

Despite City working the ball into the final third with much more purpose, Liverpool’s low block – with almost every player back – made it very difficult for them to work attempts on goal. Joe Gomez and Van Dijk dealt comfortably with any crosses, with the latter superbly marshalling the back line. Gakpo took up a much deeper defensive position, while Gravenberch moved to the right to support Alexander-Arnold against Doku. This kept Díaz central to screen passes through the middle, as Salah took up a slightly higher defensive position, ready to counter-attack (below).

By Guardiola’s own admission, City struggled to create chances despite their improved play on the ball. Instead, Liverpool ended the game as they started – with quick, incisive and purposeful play on the transition. Darwin Núñez replaced Gakpo after 73 minutes, taking up the centre-forward role, as Díaz switched to the left. Liverpool’s vibrant attacking line eventually punished the visitors once more. Núñez harried Dias into an error that Díaz seized upon to break into the box, from which Ortega conceded the penalty with which Salah killed the game. And maybe, just maybe, City’s hopes of a fifth consecutive Premier League title.

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