City’s off the ball proficiency puts them back in the race for the title
City’s Grinch of a Christmas period saw them lose back to back games against Crystal Palace and Leicester City. In the other lane, Jurgen Klopp’s high octane machine accelerated towards the title in a race that’s yet to be finished. Seven points was the gap between the champions and the title contenders.
The next game for both sides was the clash of the titans as City hosted Liverpool at the Etihad in the most anticipated game of the season. City’s problems at left back gave Guardiola a headache. Fabian Delph and Benjamin Mendy’s absence left the inexperienced Oleksandr Zinchenko as the only option. For Liverpool, Joe Gomez was the sole absentee as he continues recovering from his long term injury. Pep played in his usual 4–3–3 system, but with a couple of tweaks in personnel. Aymeric Laporte started at left back, and Danilo at right back in place of Kyle Walker. Liverpool also opted for the 4–3–3, moving away from the recent success of the 4–2–3–1.
To cut off the electricity from reaching Liverpool’s electric guitars upfront Guardiola implemented a risky yet effective pressing scheme. Sergio Aguero and David Silva pressed both center backs with Bernardo Silva breathing down Jordan Henderson’s neck. Leroy Sane positioned himself between Gini Wijnaldum and Trent Alexander-Arnold to be able to press Wijanldum once he dropped to support the buildup while also helping Laporte. On the right side, Sterling was more interested in containing James Milner, tucking into midfield and leaving the task of Andy Robertson to Danilo. This scheme meant that Liverpool’s options were either long balls into the space in midfield which City were prepared for, or diagonal balls into the left side which were too slow giving Danilo time to react.
The riskier part of this scheme however was the space offered in the left channel behind David Silva. Once the press is broken and Fernandinho is occupied, City’s defenders can’t push forward in fear of Liverpool’s pace, leaving the space in midfield to be invaded by Liverpool’s players. Wijnaldum’s dribble past Sane in the 16th minute was the start of the domino effect. The Dutch midfielder broke the press, Firmino occupied Fernandinho, and Salah invaded the empty space. Neat combinations between the Liverpool players put Sadio Mane through on goal. Unfortunately, his shot hit the post in what would have been the perfect example of how to break City’s pressing scheme. A mishap between John Stones and Ederson could have put the goal in the net, but Stones managed to clear the ball off the line with only 1.1 cm of the ball left.
In the first encounter at Anfield, City played in a 4–2–3–1 system with Bernardo Silva alongside Fernandinho to help with the build up. Here Bernardo Silva occasionally dropped to help the Brazilian but it was Aguero’s movement that proved effective. Regularly dropping to offer an extra free man. He linked up exceptionally when dropping and proved to be the main station for ball progression. Out of his 39 touches in the game, only 3 were inside the box.
Aguero’s movement was the catalyst to City’s attack, but these attacks were stopped by a stonewall defence. Liverpool’s defence and midfield were solid enough to contain City’s threat. Virgil Van Dijk epitomized Liverpool’s defensive qualities with 7 clearances in the first half, 5 of which were inside the box. In a moment of bad positioning from Liverpool’s right side, Sane found space behind Alexander-Arnold moving Lovren out of position. Multiple clearances from Alisson and Van Dijk followed as City’s avalanche continued. Bernardo Silva’s cross from the left side found Aguero who nicked the ball from Lovren’s path to smash into the net through an angle that only Aguero can score from.
City took the lead despite their lack of chances and Liverpool having the game’s best chance thus far. Bernardo Silva and Fernandinho controlled the game though. Bernardo pressed Henderson when Liverpool were trying to build up, and Fernandinho dropped to the back line when Liverpool’s attack reached the final third. Meanwhile, both recovered balls in midfield providing City with constant possession of the ball. Controlling the game using off-ball actions rather than on it.
Klopp reacted by bringing on Fabinho for Milner, and switching to a 4–2–3–1 with Wijnaldum on the left. The switch helped Liverpool build up as they now have an extra man in Fabinho. City’s aggression in pressing dropped and they tried to contain Liverpool, but the extra man helped maintain Liverpool’s build up. Sterling continued to press the inside of the field rather than Robertson even after Liverpool switched their formation. With Liverpool now controlling the possession and building up easily with Fabinho, Robertson can be utilized. Danilo’s tasks having now been increased with the positioning of Wijnaldum, it was hard for the Brazilian to keep count of Robertson. Alexander-Arnold switched play twice with diagonal balls towards Robertson who was free, the second of which resulted in the equalizer as the Scottish defender attacked from wide to set up Firmino with an easy tap in. Liverpool equalized and confirmed their presence in the game.
The equalizer didn’t last long though as City regained their lead after 8 minutes. A Liverpool attack was quickly transitioned to a City attack as Ederson swept the ball passing it to Danilo. The Brazilian found Sterling, who fed Sane to strike the ball into the far post. The goal brings the spotlight on two major features of City’s game, Ederson’s ball-playing ability and Aguero’s movements. Ederson’s decision to sweep the ball into Danilo’s path meant that the status of the game moved from Liverpool attacking to an offensive transition for City. Ederson kicking the ball away into row Z would have kept the status of the game as Liverpool attacking. The second part is Aguero’s movement which dragged Alexander-Arnold and vacated the space for Sane to score City’s second of the game.
Liverpool were searching for the equalizer for the second time, and spaces started to appear. Sterling’s positioning inside rather than on the wing when defending gave Robertson an edge but it also meant that the winger is better positioned for counter attacks. In the 81st minute he went past Robertson to set up Aguero for the final nail in Liverpool’s coffin but the Argentine forward failed to score as he tried to go round Alisson.
Minutes after, Salah came to close to equalize after Henderson put him through. However, he was denied by Ederson. City’s late pressing resulted in a major chance to score the third but Bernardo was denied by Alisson, then Sterling’s shot failed to hit the target keeping this intense game at a 2–1 scoreline.
Little yet major chances meant that the game could have gone either-way. Liverpool’s defensive solidity and their switch to 4–2–3–1 thus adding an extra man in the build up and exploiting Sterling’s tendency to press inside proved their quality as a top European team. Yet it was City’s finishing in the box and off the ball actions that resulted in the win. Bernardo Silva and Fernandinho’s 19 ball recoveries summarized City’s performance on the day. The Portuguese also covered the most distance in a Premier League game this season, 13.7 km.
In a title race that could prove the most entertaining in the last couple of years City brought back the difference to four points. Liverpool’s failures in 2009 and 2014 weren’t because of head to head matches though, it was the other games that broke Liverpool’s back and there’s still 17 to go.
