Welcome to the LFC Final Word. In this series, I provide an in-depth analysis of games from a Liverpool supporter's perspective.

Source

Match Facts

Liverpool vs Manchester City

Sunday 7th October, 16:30

Anfield

Result

Liverpool 0 - 0 Manchester City

Match Summary

There would have been plenty of people around the world expecting fireworks from this Sunday afternoon clash. Two teams at the top of the table on equal points, both touted as potential title challengers, and a chance to go three points clear. The past few games between Liverpool and Manchester City have seen plenty of goals and, if there's any team that can feel confident against City, it's Liverpool.

As the full-time whistle was blown, people took to social media to vent in frustration that this match was boring. I guess there's a case to be made that a 0-0 in a game with such hype is a bit underwhelming, but there's more to think about here than the final score. This was a match that showed just how serious Liverpool are perceived as title contenders this season. We'll get to why shortly, but let's first talk about how the match played out.

In usual fashion, Liverpool came out of the traps flying. This is something we expect from a Klopp team. The players are pushed to peak conditioning in training and like to show their aggressive playing style in the early parts of the game. People often talk about Liverpool's use of gegenpressing but it's much more than that. The Reds have quality all over the pitch and try to put their stamp on games by asserting fast-paced, dominant possession that has often led to opposition teams being unable to keep up. At times, Liverpool have put the game to bed within the first 20-30 minutes and have then been able to ease off the gas somewhat.

The difficulty Liverpool have had so far this season is that the quality just isn't there at the moment. The conditioning is present and that was evident against Manchester City as Liverpool looked to run them ragged at the start of the game. However, things aren't quite ticking right now and for all their hard work, the Reds were unable to capitalise on the early dominant play. Under normal circumstances, Salah, Mane, or Firmino would find a chance in those early stages and bury one past the goalkeeper to put Liverpool in front.

As that didn't happen, the initial frenzy of the game calmed down and we saw a much more strategic style from both teams. Against most teams, Manchester City dominate every aspect of the game, and this is evidenced in their remarkable number of chances on goal. However, City were seemingly more apprehensive about trying to take this route against a Liverpool team that can be ruthless when they hit the opposition on the break. You could say that Manchester City were showing a lot of respect for Liverpool in this regard and that is evidence of their acknowledgement that this team is a real threat to their title credentials this season.

For all of the respect that City granted to Liverpool, it also played into their hands. Liverpool are at their best when the opposition attacks them. If the fullbacks push high up the pitch and possession is overturned then you're in danger of a swift and effective counter-attack from Liverpool's front three. The Reds have at times struggled to break teams down when they sit a little deeper although this issue has been somewhat remedied by the fact that they now have such good players all over the pitch who can change a game at any second. The issue for Liverpool here was the fact that Manchester City also had world class players throughout their team and this made it much more difficult for a misfiring front three to make their mark.

Liverpool were far from their best here, but would probably have lost this game a couple of seasons ago. The defensive line is much stronger and, although van Dijk caused the Reds a big problem by giving away a late penalty, he was his usual monstrous self throughout the rest of the game. The addition of Alisson, who has impressed greatly, also seems to have given the defenders much more confidence. Knowing there's an adequate goalkeeper behind them has clearly taken away much of the anxiety that we've seen for the past few years.

All in all, 0-0 is a pretty fair result. Neither team did enough to deserve the three points and both teams will be pretty content with a share of the points at this stage in the season.

Final Word

I went into this game with the opinion that no result would be particularly surprising. With teams of this high quality, anything could happen from game to game. I am pretty happy with the point, especially after such a difficult run of fixtures over the last few weeks.

After the international break, Liverpool have a much more palatable set of fixtures coming up, and they really must make the most of it. It's still early days for this season, but as the weeks tick by, I can't help but feel that this team has the ability to achieve big things. They are not playing particularly well at the moment yet sit on equal points at the top of the table, having already played Tottenham, Chelsea, and Manchester City. It will be very interesting to see how things stand after the Christmas period.