The Anfield Curse lives on: Talking points as Liverpool down City

As is so often the case when Liverpool and Manchester City clash, form counts for startlingly little.

It was an extremely tense affair at Anfield, with only one goal separating the two teams after Mo Salah pounced on some suspect defending from Joao Cancelo and executed his finish brilliantly to send the Kop into raptures.

It was a disappointing day for Pep Guardiola and co., but a fantastic one for Jurgen Klopp’s Reds, despite the manager himself not seeing out the final few minutes of the game.

Here are the main talking points from the day.

Nothing leaky about this defence

Despite Liverpool’s poor start to the Premier League campaign, they showed up to their home clash against the champions with all the confidence and composure of the team that have run Pep Guardiola’s team so close over the last few seasons.

Following the team announcements, Liverpool fans would have been forgiven for being somewhat nervous. With James Milner replacing Trent Alexander-Arnold at right back, tasked with marking an in-form Phil Foden, and Joe Gomez the only centre-back fit enough to partner Virgil van Dijk despite his shaky performances this term, it looked like City were going to have a field day down Liverpool’s right flank.

In reality, Gomez and Milner were arguably Liverpool’s best players on the day as they expertly marshalled both Foden and Erling Haaland, keeping the Sky Blues’ frontline deathly silent for the entire duration of the match.

Alisson was strong in goal, though he only faced a handful of tame efforts, and his distribution – particularly to set Mo Salah up for the only goal of the match – was excellent.

Andy Robertson showed all the drive and determination that he usually does in this fixture, chasing down every loose ball and contributing effectively in attack, while van Dijk himself looked back to his very best as nothing got past him all day.

Say what you will about Liverpool’s defence up to this point, they certainly looked sharp against the league’s deadliest attack.

No joy for Erling

City fans are all too aware of their team’s disastrous record at Anfield, having won there just twice in the last 20 years, including once during lockdown in front of an empty stadium.

The statistics make for pretty dismal reading, but one stat that would have surely given the Cityzens hope is Erling Haaland’s outstanding goal record this season.

Having contributed to a goal in every Premier League game so far this season, including going on a run of seven straight games with a goal, and having scored 20 in all competitions already, the City faithful would have believed that Haaland could continue his stunning run and snap the Anfield Curse in two.

Every single one of them forgot their poor form and gave their all for the badge

Alas, it wasn’t to be. Despite having an assist ruled out by VAR (more on that later), Haaland had very few glimpses of goal. The limited opportunities that he did take were simple work for Alisson, and the big number nine will undoubtedly be disappointed, along with the rest of the City team, that more couldn’t be made of the few chances they were afforded.

The VAR gods do not smile kindly upon ye

And on that VAR call, Foden’s disallowed goal was the second time in a week that City were denied by technology, as Rodri’s thunderbolt against Copenhagen was also chalked off by the officials.

Haaland’s foul on Fabinho, as soft as it seemed, was nonetheless a foul, but Guardiola seething on the touchline told you all you needed to know about his opinion on the matter.

It’s unclear what the Mancunian outfit have done to displease the VAR gods, but they certainly aren’t happy.

Classic Barclays

It’s a phrase that gets banded around whenever a half decent Premier League game takes place, but this match did have plenty of Classic Barclays content.

With controversial decisions, end-to-end action, heated displays and lengthy delays, this game was fantastic for the neutrals.

City’s disallowed goal was not the only contentious call, as Jurgen Klopp was given his marching orders following his complaints over what he believed to be a clear foul on Salah.

Then, in the aftermath, a mini brawl seemed to break out on pitch, as a somewhat comical standoff between van Dijk and Bernardo Silva took place.

On the topic of Bernardo, the Portuguese creator may not have had the impact he would have liked on the pitch, but he showed his desire to fight for the shirt time and time again, including a stunning slide tackle where he wrapped his body around Thiago to cleanly dispossess the Spanish midfielder and play the ball back to Manuel Akanji.

That passion was present in all the players, particularly in the red of Liverpool, as every single one of them forgot their poor form and gave their all for the badge.

1-0 does not do this fixture justice – it was far from a low-key affair.

What’s next?

As things stand, Man City’s next challenge will be a visit from the high-flying Seagulls, taking on Brighton and Hove Albion at the Etihad Stadium next Saturday 22 October.

Liverpool, meanwhile, have three days until they face West Ham on Wednesday 19 October as they will look to build upon their impressive performance.