Liverpool stunned ESPN pundit Steve Nicol on Sunday by how Jurgen Klopp’s Reds failed to deliver their game plan and feels they were lucky to hold Manchester City to a draw.
Nicol could not believe how the Anfield natives gave up their usual commanding style at home to Pep Guardiola’s Citizens. He felt the Merseysiders did not smother the visitors or press with the same intensity as they generally do.
Goals from Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah had put Liverpool ahead twice against their title rivals, Manchester City. But equalisers from Phil Foden and Kevin de Bruyne ensured the title-holders returned to the Etihad Stadium with a point.
Nicol firmly believes Manchester City deserved to beat Liverpool as the Reds’ performance was that bad, especially in the first-half. Condemning their opening 45-minutes as clueless.
“At the end of the day, 2-2, some might say was the right results. But from my own point of view, I thought Liverpool were lucky to get a point. They were outplayed,” Nicol said.
“How much better would they have had to be [in the second-half] to be better than they were in the first-half? They were pretty clueless. When Liverpool are at their best, they’re closing the ball down early, teams can’t get out, putting pressure on them.
“After eight-minutes, that disappeared, and Manchester City just played their way through Liverpool. And only the fact that City didn’t take the couple of opportunities they had. On the other end, nothing from Liverpool. So, yes, completely outplayed the first-half, but I thought City were still the better footballing team in the second-half.”
Were Liverpool lucky to hold Manchester City to a draw, like Nicol claims?
Like Nicol claims, Manchester City almost enjoyed total control over Liverpool during the first-half on Sunday. Guardiola’s side dominated the duels, reacted quicker and created enough chances to open a commanding advantage.
Liverpool’s midfielders particularly struggled to contain the Citizens before the break, with Klopp having to rely heavily on goalkeeper Alisson. And Liverpool made Manchester City rue missed chances from De Bruyne and Foden when Salah found Mane to score.
Klopp’s half-time team talk worked a charm as Liverpool returned and produced a better display but, as Nicol adds, the margins for improvement were so drastic that Manchester City will blame themselves for two-points lost than one-point gained in the 81st-minute.
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