Erling Haaland put in an anonymous display as Man City lost 2-0 to Liverpool (Image: Getty)
Manchester City potentially watched their hopes of defending their Premier League title go up in smoke after a damaging 2-0 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday.
The match was billed as a title showdown but the visitors, without their key man Rodri, were easily second best as they were sliced open at will by Arne Slot’s side.
Cody Gakpo tapped home from a Mohamed Salah cross early on before the Egyptian star slotted home from the penalty spot to seal the points, condemning City to a sixth successive defeat under Pep Guardiola.
Express Sport analyses the performance of Guardiola’s men with the complete Man City player ratings.
Stefan Ortega 5
Pressure on him to perform after Ederson was dropped and the German was forced into some early stops. Could do nothing about the goal, but did make a crucial stop to deny Gakpo getting a second. Then gave away a penalty to undo his good work.
Kyle Walker 4
Resembled a statue for the first Liverpool goal and had no idea where Gakpo was. The sharp rate of his decline has been alarming and today did nothing to disprove that.
Ruben Dias 4
A captain has to show leadership in tough times, but the back four looked shaky and Dias was no different. Showed some fight after the break.
Manuel Akanji 5
Failed to close down Salah for the cross that led to the opener and didn’t really recover from there. Looked laboured in everything he did. Booked.
Kyle Walker was far from his best for Man City (Image: Getty)
Nathan Ake 6
The Dutchman was worthy of a recall ahead of Josko Gvardiol and he showed a clean set of heels up against the pacy Salah. The only defender to come out with some praise.
Rico Lewis 6
Energetic as always in the central areas, Lewis found the going tough against Liverpool’s three-man midfield. Had one good attempt in the first half.
Ilkay Gundogan 5
In possession he offers creativity. Away from it, the German trundled around in a sluggish and jaded nature. Another player whose best days look behind him. Hooked before the hour.
Bernardo Silva 5
Rarely do you see the Portuguese so subdued and lacking in determination. Didn’t look comfortable playing deeper than usual in the Rodri role.
Matheus Nunes got no change out of Trent Alexander-Arnold (Image: Getty)
Phil Foden 5
Took a heavy knock early on which knocked the stuffing out of him. Tried to get on the ball in the No 10 role but the Englishman was clearly lacking in confidence. Booked.
Erling Haaland 4
Anonymous in the first half, sloppy ball control and zero shots. That’s 11 words – one for every touch the Norwegian had in a dreadful first-half performance. Clearly had some fiery words at the interval because he started making runs and chasing half-chances, but still not good enough in a game of this magnitude.
Matheus Nunes 4
While he has performed well on the left in recent matches, the Portuguese was unable to create anything of note. Why were Jack Grealish and Jeremy Doku left on the bench from the start? Taken off before the hour.
Erling Haaland had only 11 touches in the first half (Image: Getty)
Substitutes
Jeremy Doku (on 57′) 6
The Belgian looked threatening in wide areas as he always does.
Savinho (on 57′) 6
Looked lively but couldn’t find a blue shirt often enough.
Kevin de Bruyne (on 78′) N/A
Jack Grealish (on 78′) N/A
Source: https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/1983203/Man-City-player-ratings-Liverpool