AFCON 2025
Mohamed Salah inspired Liverpool to a 2-0 win over Manchester City at Anfield. The result sent Arne Slot’s men 9 points clear at the top of the Premier League table.
Here are three takeaways from the game.
1. Rodri is City’s most important player
Very few teams can cope without a Ballon d’Or winner. Especially one as pivotal to a team’s setup and style of play.
Rodri is the cog in the wheel and the tempo setter in this City team. The one that makes everything tick and the main reason the champions operate like a well-oiled machine.
Ilkay Gundogan is simply not a good enough replacement and the likes of Rico Lewis and Matheus Nunes are nowhere near that level.
2. Liverpool look like champions-elect
It is hard to see anyone stopping Arne Slot’s Reds. 11 wins from 13 games speaks volumes, and defeating the champions so emphatically should put the entire league on notice.
They also have the best defence in the league (8) conceded, and the best player in Mohamed Salah, who may be in his final season.
No team has ever blown a 9-point lead and unless something catastrophic happens, the title could be coming to Anfield.
3. Haaland is in a slump
It’s tough to call this a slump when he scored twice in his last game and a brace for Norway last week, but the signs have been there for weeks.
The Norwegian goal-machine has scored just once in his last seven league games and was easily handled by Virgil van Dijk here. He largely fed off scraps and failed to impose himself on proceedings.
He may benefit from a rest but City’s lack of depth in that area means he will be required to play himself out of this bad form, starting with the visit of Nottingham Forest on Wednesday.
