Liverpool and City share the spoils at Anfield

The final Premier League meeting between Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola fittingly finished all square at Anfield to leave the three-horse Premier League title race with Arsenal still wide open. 

LINEUPS 

LIV XI: Kelleher; Bradley, Quansah, Van Dijk*, Gomez; Szoboszlai, Endo, Mac Allister; Elliott, Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz

LIV SUBS: Adrian, Tsimikas, Robertson, Clark, McConnell, Nallo, Gakpo, Koumas, Salah

MCI XI: Ederson; Walker*, Akanji, Ake; Rodri, Stones; Foden, Silva, De Bruyne, Alvarez; Haaland

MCI SUBS: Ortega, Dias, Gvardiol, Lewis, Gomez, Kovacic, Nunes, Bobb, Doku

Action: A frantic and fast start at Anfield saw Manchester City earn and create several openings in the early stages of this heavyweight showdown in the Premier League title race.

Both Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden were causing problems and finding space with Julian Alvarez stinging the palms of Caoimhin Kelleher early on. De Bruyne, caught in two minds, dinked over Kelleher, too, but the ball drifted wide before the Belgian also had a couple of trademark, angled left footed strikes fiercely struck at the Irishman.

Like a heavyweight boxing bout, Liverpool then gave back as good as they got when they began to build spells of possession for themselves. Conor Bradley flashed a cross along the Liverpool six-yard box and then Luis Diaz had the ball in the net but that was ruled out due to Darwin Nunez, who had assisted, had gone slightly too early.

City then nudged themselves ahead after around 24 minutes. A well worked corner routine saw De Bruyne essentially pass into the six-yard box with Nathan Ake blocking off Alexis Mac Allister before John Stones ran off the back of Darwin Nunez to bundle past Kelleher.

Liverpool continued to stay in the game, though, and perhaps should have equalised shortly after when Harvey Elliott swung in a cross to Dominik Szoboszlai but the Hungarian skewed his header high and wide.

Then, a potentially memorable moment occurred as Erling Haaland found himself running one on one at Virgil van Dijk. The Dutchman pressured well but the Norwegian managed to get a shot in at Kelleher. Honours even from that duel. 

"I'd say that was a draw" 😅

Haaland vs VVD 👊 pic.twitter.com/7b5Xiu3UE8

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) March 10, 2024

Liverpool really did up the ante before the break as they shot towards the Kop with Luis Diaz dragging an effort wide before Szoboszlai struck low into the corner to be saved by Ederson from a free-kick from long-range.

The second-half began at full throttle once again and there was a controversial and decisive moment early on when Nathan Ake’s back pass to Ederson was short, the Brazilian went to launch clear but Darwin Nunez nipped in just beforehand and the ‘keeper kicked right through Nunez, giving Michael Oliver an easy decision to make and award a penalty to the hosts.

Argentinian international Alexis Mac Allister stepped up to sweep hard and home to level up for the Reds. A couple of minutes later, Ederson was then replaced by Stefan Ortega with the goalkeeper struggling with an injury brought about by his collision with Nunez.

Liverpool were the stronger of the two sides as the half wore on but City continued to create and have their moments with Phil Foden being played in by De Bruyne but only able to shoot straight at Kelleher.

Liverpool then began to dominate proceedings, though, and they had a flurry of chances mid-way through the second period. Mohamed Salah fed Luis Diaz through on goal with an excellent ball but the Colombian finished poorly and wide of Ortega’s post. Diaz then had another chance when Nunez crossed to him but he dawdled and allowed for Kyle Walker to nip in and clear. 

Salah and Mac Allister both then went close before an argument on the touchline between Kevin De Bruyne and some of City’s coaching staff after the Belgian disagreed with his substitution. 

A fiery, fierce and fast paced encounter was reaching its conclusion but not without more incident and drama. Nunez forced another save out of Ortega from an Andrew Robertson cross and Ortega would be called upon again a few minutes later to deny a low drive from Jarell Quansah.

Before that Quansah effort, though, City very nearly took the lead in bizarre circumstances when Nathan Ake’s cross was punched by Kelleher into the chin and shoulder of the on-rushing Foden, ballooning onto the cross bar and over.

Jeremy Doku was then a menacing threat for the rest of the half with the former Rennes winger going so close to giving the visitors the lead when he stood up Joe Gomez, drifted by him and then sent a shot across goal and against the inside of the post with the ball then bouncing back into Kelleher’s grateful arms.

Liverpool had the ball in the net again in second-half stoppage-time when Harvey Elliott fired home on the rebound from Cody Gakpo’s effort against the bar but Salah had originally been offside from the cross that led to Gakpo’s miss.

Both sides had flurries forward in the eight minutes of additional time but honours were even once again in the final Premier League meeting between Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola.

The big picture: Liverpool are still on course for a quadruple this season with the second-leg of their UEFA Europa League tie on Thursday against Sparta Prague before facing old rivals Manchester United in the FA Cup quarter-finals next week. Manchester City are also aiming to historically defend their treble from last season and they face Newcastle in the cup next week. As for the current league table, Arsenal are above Liverpool on goal difference with City a point behind. 

Man of the match: Stefan Ortega. Despite playing less than 50 minutes, the City goalkeeper was pivotal in preserving a point for the defending champions amidst enormous Liverpool pressure. 

Expected goals: Liverpool (2.66) 1-1 (1.55) Manchester City

EVENTS

Kick-off

’19 | DISALLOWED: Luis Diaz

’24 | GOAL: Stones (0-1)

Half-time

’50 | GOAL: Mac Allister [pen] (1-1)

’55 | INJURY: Ederson 

’90 | DISALLOWED: Elliott

Full-time