Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has told BBC Sport that Liverpool’s Sadio Mane and Mo Salah were very difficult to deal with in the opening stages of their game yesterday.
Liverpool made a roaring start at the Etihad on Sunday and ultimately took an early lead in the contest.
Salah scored from the penalty spot, as Liverpool’s front-four all caused City no end of problems.
Guardiola admits that Mane and Salah were picking the ball up in seriously dangerous areas early on, and that caused him to make tactical changes.
Thankfully for Guardiola his tweaks seemed to have the desired impact, as City improved considerably as the game progressed.
Gabriel Jesus ended up netting an equaliser, with both sides playing out a 1-1 draw in the end.
And Guardiola said: “It was a tight game. We struggled in the first minutes because they had four players up front. Mane and Salah were playing between the lines then we adjusted after and had more control.
“The way they played and the way we behaved in response was incredible. I’m so proud of my players.
“The difference today was they got a penalty and we missed a penalty.”
It will now be interesting to see whether Klopp sticks with his new four-man attack, or switches back to his more conventional 4-3-3 in future.
The draw has left Liverpool sitting in third place in the Premier League table, while City are positioned in 10th spot.
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