Liverpool moved 11 points clear of Manchester City as Arne Slot’s Reds schooled Pep Guardiola’s side 2-0 at the Etihad.
Goals in each half from Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah saw Liverpool past City who have now not won a game in seven. The Reds got off to an incredible start, penning City in their own half for the opening 10 minutes.
And on 12 minutes after peppering goalkeeper Stefan Ortega, Liverpool had their breakthrough when Salah found Gakpo with a wonderful ball across the face of City’s goal for the Dutchman to tap home.
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While City regrouped in the second half, they were undone on 78 minutes when Luis Diaz was brought down by Ortega inside the area, with Salah making it 2-0 after tucking home the spot kick.
And here are five things Slot will have learnt from the clash against Manchester City…
Liverpool can do something special this season
Depending on how you feel about Liverpool, you’ll either think enough, or not enough has been made of the fact Arne Slot has managed the Reds to 18 wins from 20 games in all competitions.
In midweek, they defeated Real Madrid in the Champions League to maintain their perfect record in Europe this term and by beating Manchester City, they moved 11 points clear of the reigning Premier League champions.
They currently sit nine points clear of Arsenal in second place and look to be the best team in Europe this season. It is not unthinkable that the Reds could go on to achieve something special this term in Slot’s first season in charge – something which is made even more incredible by the fact the only player they brought in this past summer was Federico Chiesa, who has barely feature for Liverpool this term.
Exploit Manchester City’s physical weakness
Manchester City lined up against Liverpool with a midfield five from right to left of Rico Lewis, Bernardo Silva, Ilkay Gundogan and Matheus Nunes, with Phil Foden operating off Erling Haaland.
While Haaland offers physicality, the other five do not – and Liverpool exploited this to great effect. Physically, Slot’s side looked by far superior to the reigning Premier League champions, with Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai quite literally running the show.
It is astonishing that City have managed to get themselves into a situation where their midfield pivot was Silva and Lewis during the second half and Slot deserves credit for exploiting their lack of physicality.
Pay Mohamed Salah and pay him now
Week in, week out, Mohamed Salah is Liverpool’s match winner. It was the Egyptian’s stunning ball into the path of Cody Gakpo which gave Liverpool the lead following their early dominance with Salah producing an exquisite assist for his Dutch teammate.
On 77 minutes, he netted a penalty to put the game to bed following some good work by Luis Diaz. Last weekend, it was Salah who netted a brace against Southampton to help them come from 2-1 down to beat the Saints 3-2. The 32-year-old, who is out of contract in the summer, is in red hot form.
Quite simply, Liverpool cannot afford to lose him in the summer. He is arguably the best forward in the Premier League, has adapted his game to become more of a creative outlet, still has an eye for goal and is beloved by every Liverpool supporter. It would feel wrong if Liverpool lift the Premier League title in May at Anfield with Salah departing afterwards. Liverpool need to give Mohamed Salah a new contract and they needed to do so months ago – get the deal done.
Virgil van Dijk needs a new deal too
Speaking of players who need a new deal, Virgil van Dijk needs one too. The Dutchman is out of contract in the summer but is rumoured to be close to signing a new deal.
Put simply, Liverpool need to give him a contract too. Van Dijk was magnificent against Erling Haaland, marking the Man City striker out of the game. He remains at the top of his game, and is still the best centre-back in the league, no matter what Arsenal fans say about William Saliba and Gabriel.
Cody Gakpo is a man transformed
So far during his brief tenure at Anfield, Slot has turned around Cody Gakpo’s Liverpool career. While his goal against City was only his second in the Premier League this term, Gakpo has now scored eight goals in all competitions this season.
He was utilised all over by Jurgen Klopp, sometimes as centre-forward and sometimes as an attacking eight in a midfield three. But under Slot, he has been utilised in his favoured position on the left-wing, with Liverpool reaping the rewards as a result.
Gakpo has looked excellent under Slot and the latter will be impressed with his form of late and how he performed against City.
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