Liverpool 0-0 Manchester City - No goals as both teams remain undefeated
Liverpool and Manchester City met at Anfield in what was a first against second battle for top spot in the Premier League table. The winner would have not only pulled clear but would have handed their rivals their first defeat and a huge blow in confidence. However, despite the abundance of quality attacking players among both sides lineups, it was the defences who came out on top as the game ended in a stalemate with neither side finding a way to score.
The best opportunity came to Manchester City in the 85th minute when they were awarded a penalty kick. Leroy Sane had carried the ball into the area, he'd seemed to go a bit too wide to be a threat but then was taken out by Virgil van Dijk. The Liverpool centre-back had been having a solid game up until that moment but there were no arguments, it was a clumsy challenge and a deserved penalty kick. Luckily for Liverpool, Manchester City's main penalty taker Sergio Aguero had already been subbed off by that point and after some debate, it was Riyad Mahrez who stepped up. He then went on to smash the ball high and wide and well off target and the score remained 0-0.
Liverpool had started the game brilliantly with their trademark high pressing and were causing City a lot of problems. It was a similar start to how they performed when they won at Anfield last season and the Anfield crowd roared them on. As has been the case all season though, the forward trio of attackers failed to combine at the final point of their attacking moves and for all the pressure and dominance, they never carved out any real goal scoring opportunities. After their initial blitz, they began to slow down and looked leggy. By the end of the first half, it was City who was in control and looked the most likely to score. Liverpool suffered more hardship when James Milner went down after playing a ball forward holding his hamstring, he was subbed off for Naby Keita and could be a big loss if it is a serious injury.
The second half played out mostly how the first had ended, with City in control and Liverpool's defenders having to work extremely hard to keep them at bay. Liverpool did threaten with some counter attacks and Mo Salah looked quite lively, making plenty of forward runs. He never really got the ball played to him enough to have much impact on the game and only really had a couple of shots at goal. One was a soft effort sent straight to the keeper and the other was an off-target attempt to chip the ball in. The penalty miss by Mahrez late on fired up the home fans and the players did respond, despite looking worn out for most of the game it was Liverpool who ended the game with a flurry of attacks. They played the ball into the box a number of times but failed to get it onto a man in red to direct it into the goal, instead, City held on and the game ended with the points split in a surprising goalless draw between the two highest scoring teams coming into the weekend.
The point each sees both teams, as well as Chelsea, remain undefeated after 8 games and each on 20 points with Arsenal and Spurs breathing down their necks on 18 points each. It is all very tight but I am extremely satisfied with Liverpool's current position heading into the international break. Today's game sees them through a run of 7 really difficult fixtures and while there are no easy games in the Premier League anymore Liverpool's upcoming fixtures are definitely ones that would be considered easier. To be neck and neck with Man City and Chelsea at this stage of the season with 3 of the most difficult fixtures out of the way and remaining undefeated despite not even being at their best, Liverpool fans could not really ask for more.
The Premier League takes a break for a bit now and that may just help Liverpool get some much-needed recovery. While many of their players will still be in action and travelling around the world for their countries, the intensity of those games are unlikely to be the same level as their previous 7 games and hopefully, they come back ready to take on Huddersfield who Liverpool visit on Saturday, 20 October in the late 17:30 kick-off.