Manchester City escaped Anfield with a point after wasteful Liverpool failed to find a winner in a 1-1 draw on Sunday.
[ MORE: JPW’s player ratings from Liverpool 1-1 Man City ]
An absolutely monumental game in the Premier League season lived up to the anticipation, at least in terms of intensity, but the draw leaves neither team top of the table.
The table reads Arsenal 64 points, Liverpool 64 points, Man City 63 with 10 games to play for each of the three superpowers. And Man City versus Arsenal is coming up March 31.
WATCH LIVERPOOL vs MANCHESTER CITY FULL MATCH REPLAY
It may be the final meeting of Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp, with the latter leaving Liverpool at the end of the season.
Klopp’s press turns back time but opportunity wasted
The shame of Liverpool’s draw is that it will ultimately go down as a missed opportunity. The Reds had 53% possession in both halves and their control over the game. Luis Diaz missed some terrific chances to score and Darwin Nunez — monstrous over most of his 76 minutes — also couldn’t convert a good chance. On a day with Mohamed Salah only capable of a half-hour and both Diogo Jota and Trent Alexander-Arnold among the missing, creating chances was not an issue.
Really, they should’ve won. And not taking all three points may be the difference in the title race, though Liverpool still control their destiny.
“It has been proven over the years that this game is quite enjoyable as neutral,” said Virgil van Dijk on USA Network after the game. “For us it’s just about running your socks off and trying to compete. Based on the second half we have a bit of a bittersweet feeling. Obviously at the end they hit the post but we could’ve won here. It’s always an intense battle against these guys and an amazing manager.”
The Reds’ desperation in their last chance to take points off Man City or Arsenal was evident from Moment No. 1 and it was channeled into good until late (when super sub Mohamed Salah and wasteful Diaz were among the players trying to buy cards and penalties).
Escape is at hand for the traveling Man City
The last match-up of Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola in the Premier League wasn’t an unqualified victory for the former, but his halftime tactical switches left the latter unable to get a real hold of the game for more than a handful of brief second-half moments.
City never recovered from the two errors that led to Liverpool’s penalty and Ederson’s exit, as Nathan Ake’s poor back pass and the panicked keeper’s decision to clatter into Darwin Nunez — who had probably pushed his dribble a bit too deep into the box — put Alexis Mac Allister on the spot and eventually led to the injured Ederson leaving the game for Stefan Ortega.
Fortunately for Man City, Ortega was excellent. His four saves were very important to the final score and we may see more of the German in this title push. All told, City had to escape Anfield with their point, out-attempted 19-10 and down 2.46-1.61 in xG. All but 1.96 of that Liverpool xG came after the break. Klopp masterclass.
What’s next?
Manchester City host Newcastle in the FA Cup quarterfinals on Saturday, then Arsenal come to town for a massive match at 11:30am ET on March 31.
Liverpool have a Thursday visit from Sparta Prague in the Europa League Round of 16 but they lead 5-1 and will be able to take advantage of it. Then it’s a Sunday FA Cup quarterfinal visit to Manchester United and a March 31 visit from Brighton in the Premier League.
How to watch Liverpool vs Manchester City live, stream link, start time
Kick off: 11:45am ET, Sunday (March 10)
TV channel: USA Network
Online: Watch online via NBC.com
Liverpool vs Manchester City live updates as they happened- By Nick Mendola and Joe Prince-Wright
Liverpool vs Manchester City final score: 1-1
Goals: Stones (24′), Mac Allister (pen 50′)