Dust down the open-top bus and put in that application to Liverpool City Council for some road closures. Liverpool are 11 points clear at the top of the Premier League and will be crowned champions.
It was a procession before the procession as they took apart Manchester City in their own stadium. They certainly played like title winners and as if the crown will rest easy on their heads.
What an achievement it will be for Arne Slot in his first season as Jurgen Klopp’s successor. Who says you cannot be the man who follows The Man? Numerous managers have failed at Manchester United, after Sir Alex Ferguson, while Mikel Arteta, after Unai Emery, has yet to get there at Arsenal following on from Arsene Wenger.
A euro for Klopp’s thoughts?
For Slot it has been seamless and that is the greatest compliment that can be paid given the scale of the club and the magnitude of the job he inherited.
Slick just like the two first-half goals they scored here.
Another goal and another assist for Mohamed Salah who appears on a mission to deliver the title in what, remarkably of course, could still be his last season at Liverpool as his current contract runs down.
It is an astonishing 51 goal involvements – 30 goals, 21 assists – for Salah this season so far. And we are still in February.
There was also a goal and an assist for Dominik Szoboszlai who delivered an outstanding performance as he broke forward intelligently from midfield and as Liverpool played without a central striker.
Darwin Nunez was taught a lesson in finishing from the bench.
The first goal came from a cleverly worked corner routine with the ball played short to Szoboszlai who turned it back across the penalty area for Salah to run onto. His low shot deflected off Nathan Ake to wrong-foot Ederson.
The second was equally well-constructed as Trent Alexander-Arnold picked out Salah’s run down the right, he cut inside and set up Szoboszlai who passed the ball calmly into the net. Again Ederson was wrong-footed.
And it was not even as if City, again without the injured Erling Haaland, played that badly. Their build-up play was good, they were unlucky in attack, where they just lack that instinct that Liverpool possess. But their ever-changing defence is their downfall.
What is also so astonishing, however, is that there was never any prospect – as hard as they tried – of a City comeback. There was never that wall of pressure, that old inevitability of a goal and it felt significant that as they chased the game Kevin De Bruyne was taken off after just 65 minutes. It looks increasingly like the 33-year-old’s race is run.
City simply could find no way through and as magnificent as Salah and Szoboszlai were, that central defensive partnership of Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate is simply formidable.
So is this title race already over?
Liverpool have played a game more than Arsenal who can, therefore, reduce their advantage to eight points with 11 games to go. And they still have to play each other at Anfield although, with that fixture scheduled for mid-May, it may be over by then.
Either way it would have to be some collapse for Liverpool not to win it now. If they play like this then there is no chance of them not doing it.
Their wobble, by the way, has amounted to two draws away to tricky opponents – Everton and Aston Villa – and they could easily have won both. Plus an FA Cup exit away to Plymouth Argyle with Slot knowing he left his squad short.
And so they can start looking for the bunting and planning that parade for a 20th league title which, of course, will also take them level with Manchester United as England’s most successful club. “We’re going to win the league, we’re going to win the league, and now you’re going to believe us,” sang the Liverpool fans. No one surely doubts they will.
07:16 PM GMT
And finally, here’s Pep Guardiola
We played very good. Maybe we missed more productivity in the shots but we played against a fantastic team. Maybe at the start it was 50-50 and we could not convert.
Second half they defended very deep. We have done something we have not tried for many games which was we brought them to their box and tried to beat them there.
The tactic was to arrive in the final third and the byline and it happened a lot but we did not score. We missed the next bit a little bit and with crosses it is almost impossible to do it because of their size. We could not find the next step.
[Did you target Doku against Alexander-Arnold?]
Savinho did the same. We have good wingers, they defend inside and Salah defended today more than previous games. I know the people don’t believe it and I know when we have played really good and we played really good today.
07:15 PM GMT
Arne Slot speaks to Sky Sports
The first half played out better for them than for us, apart from the score because we were 2-0 up. I don’t think they had too many big chances but it felt like they were going to score. I can’t remember them having a big chance in the second half.
Ideally, we have the ball more than the other team. But City when it comes to ball possession, they like it a lot and are so comfortable on the ball. The only chance you have to win here is you defend really well.
Three days ago we had a draw at Villa and people told me we were not in a good place and then three days later we win and it is the complete opposite again. We work every single day to achieve this and it is three months of very hard work to keep this going.
There is no secret. We are 11 points clear but Arsenal has one game in hand. You always have to adapt to the challenge you got. A week ago we experienced how difficult Wolves at home was. There will always be difficult games, like today.
It is easier for us to not get excited because we know what we have to put in. This result was more about defence than attack. It is normal for fanbases of teams leading the league to be positive [but] it is important to understand why we are where we are.
06:59 PM GMT
Jeremy Doku talks to Sky Sports
To be fair if I look at the game I don’t think that they were much better than us. Two goals, one set piece and the second goal was a long ball, so well done to them. We know their qualities and that they like to play in behind. They did well and after it is hard to come back against a team that defends well like that.
We played well but the situations that we had we could have dealt better with them. Today we played better against them than we did away. Of course there is a gap in points but today you can’t say that they ran over us.
06:48 PM GMT
Dominik Szoboszlai speaks to Sky Sports
We played with two No 10s and they managed the game almost 90 per cent but at the end the result is for us and we are happy to take the three points home.
We were defending 30 metres from our goal and we gave everything. It is part of the game. Sometimes you don’t have the ball and we are happy to take the three points.
We have to keep going and Newcastle is going to be a tough game and then 11 (sic) more games to go. It never ends so we have to keep calm and keep going and at the end hopefully, we will get there.
06:43 PM GMT
Oliver Brown’s verdict
06:41 PM GMT
Mohamed Salah speaks to Sky Sports
It’s incredible, a very hard place to come and play here. A tough team and an incredible manager and am happy to have done it. It’s special, they are incredible, winning four in a row. We need to keep calm and play our game so the pressure doesn’t get into us at the end. I don’t know, it’s opinion [on whether he’s better than ever]. Some people prefer my first season, some prefer now. I prefer now because winning the league, helping the young players, it is special. We need another title for sure, me and the big guys in the team. We need another title. We’ll give it our best.
06:27 PM GMT
How they stand
06:25 PM GMT
Full time: Man City 0 Liverpool 2
Liverpool move 11 points clear at the top of the table by completing the double over the champions.
Alisson and Van Dijk hug each other and hold the clinch. As Neville pointed out, when Arsenal came here over the past couple of seasons, they could not dethrone City, lacking the belief, he says. Liverpool had no such inhibition (against an inferior City side it has to be said).
06:21 PM GMT
90+2 min: Man City 0 Liverpool 2
‘And now you’re going to believe us, we’re going to win the league’ bellow the Liverpool fans raucously and with justification.
06:20 PM GMT
90 min: Man City 0 Liverpool 2
Four minutes to come. The departing Mohamed Salah is named man of the match. Who would quibble with that?
Elliott → Salah
Quansah → Alexander-Arnold.
06:18 PM GMT
88 min: Man City 0 Liverpool 2
Doku beats Alexander-Arnold for the umpteenth time but then runs into Endo who mops up the ball after the collision.
06:15 PM GMT
86 min: Man City 0 Liverpool 2
Doku can’t control Kovacic’s fizzed pass on the touchline and concedes a throw-in.
06:13 PM GMT
84 min: Man City 0 Liverpool 2
Great covering, sliding block by Khusanov after Dias fired a pass into Kovacic’s back and Salah pounced to latch on to the ball and send Szoboszlai down the inside-right channel into the box to shoot.
06:11 PM GMT
82 min: Man City 0 Liverpool 2
After four draws in eight games, this, if they seal it, is a ‘statement’ and ‘title-winning’ victory for Liverpool, says Gary Neville. City carry on probing as jogo de posicion hits the rocks bereft of the skill and legs to sustain it this season.
06:08 PM GMT
80 min: Man City 0 Liverpool 2
Man City’s possession is still pushing 70 per cent but while they control the ball, Liverpool have controlled the game.
“Just shoot! Just have a shot!” pleads one desperate City fan in front of the press box. It has been a familiar cry in their direction of late, with their attacks all too often petering out in endless sideways patterns.
06:06 PM GMT
78 min: Man City 0 Liverpool 2
Gvardiol and Ake let Salah cut in off the right, tack across the 18-yard line and shoot with his left which, to their relief, is straight into Ederson’s bread basket.
Gundogan → Gonzalez
Dias → Ake
Kovacic → Marmoush.
Gakpo → Diaz.
06:04 PM GMT
75 min: Man City 0 Liverpool 2
Rico Lewis studs a shot into the side netting as the rain thickens. Gonzalez scooped a pass over the Liverpool defence to Savinho whose shot/cross pinballed through to Lewis but he couldn’t do anything with the angle so acutely against him.
06:02 PM GMT
73 min: Man City 0 Liverpool 2
Double Liverpool substitution:
Endo → Jones
Tsimikas → Robertson.
‘We are not, we’re not really here’ sung as a valedictory.
06:01 PM GMT
71 min: Man City 0 Liverpool 2
Again Doku has the beating of Alexander-Arnold but fires his shot into Konate. The ball ricochets over to the right and Savinho stands up a deep cross that clears the leaping Marmoush. Doku retrieves it and tries to thread another shot through a thicket of legs, which he manages to do, but too close to Alisson and with no teeth.
05:57 PM GMT
69 min: Man City 0 Liverpool 2
Foden larrups a shot from 22 yards and Gravenberch blocks it. They have been magnificent in their defensive positioning all match. The real Red Wall.
05:56 PM GMT
67 min: Man City 0 Liverpool 2
Savinho twists and sprints down the right, cutting infield, beating tow men with pace but then, much to his own disgust, runs out of road.
McAtee → De Bruyne
And now the end is near for KDB. He’s been a delight to watch all these years but all things must pass.
05:54 PM GMT
65 min: Man City 0 Liverpool 2
Fine save by Ederson from Diaz’s rasping drive. The keeper soared to his left to tip it over the bar after Robertson suddenly rolled back the years and hit the gas to break down the left at high speed.
05:52 PM GMT
63 min: Man City 0 Liverpool 2
Doku’s tame cross is deflected to Alisson in the six-yard box.
05:50 PM GMT
61 min: Man City 0 Liverpool 2
Liverpool corner after another quick-fire counter, it’s on the left, right in front of their fans. Van Dijk chests down the corner and hooks it on the half-volley to Robertosn who smashes a right-foot shot with his winger miles over the bar.
While that goal check was going on, some of the Liverpool substitutes were turning mischievously towards the City supporters. Harvey Elliott was performing a distinct ‘dry your eyes’ gesture for their benefit.
05:47 PM GMT
59 min: Man City 0 Liverpool 2
Seconds after the goal was chalked off, Doku springs into life and runs Alexander-Arnold ragged before slipping a pass up the inside left for Marmoush to put his foot through and bend it just beyond the right post.
05:46 PM GMT
No goal
Szoboszlai was a centimetre or two offisde when put clear through by Garvenberch’s cute pass to square to Jones for a tap-in.
05:45 PM GMT
GOAL!???
Man City 0 Liverpool 3 (Jones) VAR check
05:44 PM GMT
55 min: Man City 0 Liverpool 2
Lewis, Gvardiol and Kusanov scramble back to squeeze Diaz out after the winger was played into the box by Salah’s clever pass.
05:42 PM GMT
52 min: Man City 0 Liverpool 2
Terrific pass from Alexander-Arnold with the outside of his right foot sends Salah down the right wing and he sprints into the box. Taking a leaf out of the right-back’s book he also uses the outside of his boot, this one the left, to fade a cross towards the far post, bending it away from goal, looking for Jones who had already triggered his darting run and found the ball was floated behind him.
05:38 PM GMT
50 min: Man City 0 Liverpool 2
Savinho elegantly glides infield from the right to spray a left-foot pass into Doku’s stride. The left winger faces up Alexander-Arnold and then slips a pass towards the left of the D for Marmoush to shoot... straight into Van Dijk.
05:36 PM GMT
48 min: Man City 0 Liverpool 2
City corner on the left after Van Dijk’s interception. Gvardiol splits to the near post to flick on Marmoush’s corner but gets his connection wrong and sticks it behind.
05:35 PM GMT
46 min: Man City 0 Liverpool 2
No changes yet. Peter Drury points out that the last two times City have trailed 2-0 at half-time they have gone on to win 4-2. Liverpool have won the last 54 times they have led 2-0 at halfway.
05:28 PM GMT
With that goal and assist...
40 - Mohamed Salah is the first player in Premier League history to be involved in 40+ goals in two different seasons.
42 in 2017/18 (32 goals, 10 assists)
40 in 2024/25 (25 goals, 15 assists).Legend. pic.twitter.com/CCV0j3lYN6
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) February 23, 2025
He has 50 for all competitions and today is the eighth match in succession in which he has scored.
05:21 PM GMT
Half-time: Man City 0 Liverpool 2
Liverpool’s tactics and strategy have been spot on. The fluidity of their midfield four in defence and attack with Salah and Diaz splitting ahead of them has opened up City twice. The champions have been far from awful but they lack the cutting edge of old and, odd to say, the confidence to beat men out wide. Doku is not in Mahrez’s league as an elite winger yet. They have had 69 per cent of the possession and 306 passes to 144 but Liverpool have more nous about getting the job done.
05:18 PM GMT
45+2 min: Man City 0 Liverpool 2
Doku leaves Alexander-Arnold on his backside but Salah comes back to cover and the winger double-backs to work it across the area to De Bruyne whose desperate shot, with the clock on half-time, takes out Szoboszlai a second before the whistle.
05:16 PM GMT
45 min: Man City 0 Liverpool 2
City are enjoying a lot of the ball but can’t find any penetration because Gravenberch drops in and jones, Mac Allister and Szoboszlai hound the ball carriers.
05:13 PM GMT
42 min: Man City 0 Liverpool 2
Liverpool defend the corner without drama but City come back with Marmoush who threads a pass to De Bruyne by the right of the D. The captain tries to stand up a cross to the far post for Foden but Konate beats him to it.
Extraordinary how far the balance of power has tipped in the City-Liverpool rivalry in just five months. At the height of Guardiola’s battles with Jurgen Klopp you struggled to put a sheet of sugar paper between them, but there is a gulf in class evident today, as Salah crosses to the brilliant Szoboszlai for his 51st ‘goal involvement’ this season. To think, the defending champions had gone 52 matches unbeaten here at the Etihad before a 4-0 defeat to Tottenham last October. Now the place feels ripe for plunder.
05:11 PM GMT
40 min: Man City 0 Liverpool 2
Doku drives down the left and belts over a cross that Konate slides ina nd blocks with his chest and then gets up to celebrate his own solidity with the Liverpool fans while City’s cry for ‘handball’ but have to settle for a corner.
05:08 PM GMT
GOAL!
Man City 0 Liverpool 2 (Szoboszlai) Utterly clinical from the Hungary forward, shooting through Khusanov’s legs when teed up by Salah who had held off Gvardiol having been played in over the top by Alexander-Arnold’s chip. City though Salah was offside but he wasn’t and uses first his pace and then hsi strength to set up the crispest of finishes.
05:06 PM GMT
35 min: Man City 0 Liverpool 1
City defend the corner stoutly and move upfield stealthily until Marmoush is penalised for a foul on Konate.
Pep Guardiola frantically called his players over to the touchline during a break in play as Alexis Mac Allister receives treatment. The Manchester City manager is extremely animated as he talks to Omar Marmoush. Not sure what the forward has done wrong and he was unfortunate to have what would have been an equalising goal – it was a fine finish – ruled out for offside in the incident which left Mac Allister hurt.
05:05 PM GMT
33 min: Man City 0 Liverpool 1
Mac Allister eventually comes back on. Liverpool counter quickly, cutting through City by virtue of Szoboszlai’s roulette turn in midfield that sets Diaz pounding down the right. He switches it across to Salah who slips Alexander-Arnold away on the overlap but his cross hits Ake and balloons behind for a corner.
05:01 PM GMT
30 min: Man City 0 Liverpool 1
Sensational finish from Marmoush brings the crowd to its feet, a thunderous right-foot shot from the right of the box across Alisson and in at the far post but he was half a yard offside. After shooting he fell on Mac Allister who was scrambling back to tackle and the World Cup winner needs treatment.
05:00 PM GMT
29 min: Man City 0 Liverpool 1
City free-kick about 28 yards out, right of centre. Foden shoots... straight down Alisson’s throat.
04:59 PM GMT
27 min: Man City 0 Liverpool 1
Savinho cannily picks a crossfield pass that gives Doku a run at Alexander-Arnold but he decides to cross early and can’t beat the first man. Given a second bite, he hits Konaté again. ‘He needs to run at Alexander-Arnold, get into penalty territory,’ says Gary Neville. Instead he has snatched at a pair of crosses.
04:55 PM GMT
25 min: Man City 0 Liverpool 1
Guardiola is piqued by a pair of Robertson fouls on Savinho, neither of which brought further sanction than a free-kick.
04:54 PM GMT
23 min: Man City 0 Liverpool 1
From the corner City pick out Marmoush 20 yards out and he bends a right-foot shot looking for the top right corner but cannot beat Alisson who clutches it to his chest.
04:51 PM GMT
20 min: Man City 0 Liverpool 1
Doku uses his pace to burn past Alexander-Arnold from a standing start to hare up the byline and ping a low cross looking for Foden who had tried to peel off Van Dijk. But the Liverpool captain stuck to him like Bostik and telescoped out a leg to intercept and knock it away.
04:49 PM GMT
17 min: Man City 0 Liverpool 1
City had started so well. Not swaggering but playing with confidence and fluency.
All rather seamless for Liverpool: Alexis Mac Allister to Dominik Szoboszlai to Mo Salah, plus a heavy deflection off the boot of Nathan Ake, and they are one step towards being able to anoint themselves champions-elect. Pep Guardiola is disconsolate at the edge of his technical area, knowing how this script tends to end for Manchester City this season.
04:44 PM GMT
GOAL!
Man City 0 Liverpool 1 (Salah) The kind of goal that really ought to go down as an og as although his shot was on target it would have been saved had it not hit Ake and spun loopily beyond Ederson. It was a well-worked corner routine, played to Szoboszlai at the near post who, back to goal, flicked it round the corner to Salah by the penalty spot to shoot with his left, into Ake and the goal. City shot themselves in the foot by conceding an unnecessary corner because Lewis played as if he thinks it was 12 montsh ago and he could evade a high press and play it back towards his own goal.
04:44 PM GMT
13 min: Man City 0 Liverpool 0
De Bruyne, who has popped up all over the right side of the field from the right-back position to the outside left, chips a pass upfield for Savinho to drive into the box but the ball gets stuck under his feet and then pinballs across the box, allowing Liverpool to clear their lines.
Liverpool counter with Salah rolling Gvardiol and chasséing into the box, obviously about to open his body and shoot with his left until Ake skates back and makes a perfect last, ditch tackle.
Tactically it is really interesting from both sides. Without Erling Haaland, Manchester City are using Phil Foden and Omar Marmoush through the middle, with Foden pushing on and Jeremy Doku and Savinho on the wings. Rico Lewis is stepping into midfield. Liverpool are playing with midfielders Dominik Szoboszlai and Curtis Jones as the two furthest forward through the middle with Mohamed Salah and Luis Diaz higher in the wide positions. In other words it is incredibly attacking.
04:41 PM GMT
11 min: Man City 0 Liverpool 0
Gary Neville points out that Foden is more elusive than Haaland for Van Dijk to mark and City have certainly started with the same fluidity of movement that ripped Newcastle to shreds.
04:39 PM GMT
8 min: Man City 0 Liverpool 0
Doku faces up Alexander-Arnold and turns to roll it back to Marmoush whose shot from 20-yards deflects fortuitously for City and allows Savinho on the right to feed a square pass to Foden who slips Van Dijk to wrap his left instep around a daisy-cutter of a shot that goes straight down the middle and allows Alisson to dive forward to smother.
04:37 PM GMT
6 min: Man City 0 Liverpool 0
Van Dijk stands on halfway and urges his forwards to make some runs just before Diaz is dispossessed by Khusanov around the 18-yard line. Liverpool drop back into shape quickly as City start to probe from deep.
04:35 PM GMT
4 min: Man City 0 Liverpool 0
Diaz makes 20 yards down the left, cuts in on to his right and sends an inswinging cross in that Gvardiol intercepts and sends Doku off but he doesn’t pick his head up quickly enough to see Marmoush in space in the inside-left channel and loses the thrust of the break.
So Foden is playing as a false nine and Marmoush off him as an inside left, seeking to drive a wedge between Alexander-Arnold, who also has Doku to deal with, and Konate.
04:33 PM GMT
2 min: Man City 0 Liverpool 0
De Bruyne ghosts into space on the right to receive the ball when recycled from the left via Lewis and whips in a first-time cross that Konate hacks behind. One corner begets another, the second caught comfortably by Alisson under the crossbar.
04:31 PM GMT
1 min: Man City 0 Liverpool 0
Liverpool kick off and attack down the right. Szoboszlai seems to be playing as a false nine for them with Diaz on the left and Foden playing as a striker for City.
04:30 PM GMT
Egyptian king(s)
With Erling Haaland again out injured one of the interesting match-ups will be Manchester City’s Omar Marmoush against his compatriot Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah. It is a big day for Egypt football with two of their players starring against each other in the Premier League. Salah has played against Mohamed Elneny at Arsenal and Trezeguet at Aston Villa in the past but this one feels far bigger especially as there is a lot of talk of Marmoush being Salah’s eventual successor for his country.
04:27 PM GMT
Out come the teams
No fannying about here – both sides in their home kits. Blues v Reds.
04:24 PM GMT
Arne Slot speaks to Sky Sports
It is impossible not to notice [Arsenal’s result]. I wasn’t watching it myself but you get to hear bout it but my focus was on Manchester City. They have had a difficult spell because of the injuries and still have injuries but their squad is now bigger and they have brought in four ones who have made an impact. You know if you have to go to Chelsea, Arsenal, City it is always going to be a challenge but we have a very good squad as well.
04:17 PM GMT
Pep Guardiola speaks to Sky Sports
Yesterday after training Erling had improved but he did not feel good [enough to play]. In the nine years we have played many, many games without important players and survived. This season we have had a lot, a lot, a lot of injuries and could not survive [the losses] but in specific games we have to do it. I try to score goals with more offensive players and less midfield players [on Doku and De Bruyne’s selection] to try to make a threat. We have players who are good runners and in the one against one. Hopefully we can find the pace and right moments to attack them.
04:03 PM GMT
I’m a little teapot or Walk like an Egyptian?
04:00 PM GMT
Newcastle beat Forest 4-3
You can read the fall-out of that topsy-turvy match here.
03:57 PM GMT
Bashful Carragher and ‘Rudigeritis’
03:44 PM GMT
At St James’ Park
If it stays like it is, Newcastle move to 44 points, the same as City before kick-off and three points behind Forest. You can follow the last 15 minutes here.
Should Newcastle stay in front, City would go third with a win today.
03:36 PM GMT
Your teams in black and white
Manchester City Ederson; Lewis, Khusanov, Ake, Gvardiol; González, De Bruyne; Savinho, Foden, Doku; Marmoush.
Substitutes Ortega, Dias, Kovacic, Grealish, Gundogan, Bernardo, Reis, Nunes, McAtee;
Liverpool Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konaté, Van Dijk, Robertson; Gravenberch, Mac Allister, Jones; Szoboszlai, Díaz, Salah. Substitutes Kelleher, Quansah, Tsimikas, Endo, Núñez, Chiesa, Gakpo, Elliott, Jota.
Referee Anthony Taylor (Wythenshawe).
03:29 PM GMT
One change for Liverpool, four for City
Out go John Stones, Ruben Dias, Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva from the starting XI at the Bernabéu and in come Rico Lewis, Nathan Ake, Jérémy Doku and Kevin De Bruyne.
Liverpool swap Diogo Jota who started the 2-2 draw with Villa for Luis Díaz.
03:22 PM GMT
Diaz returns
03:21 PM GMT
Haaland out of squad
Today's team to face Liverpool! ????
XI | Ederson, Lewis, Khusanov, Ake, Gvardiol, Nico, De Bruyne (C), Savinho, Foden, Doku, Marmoush
SUBS | Ortega Moreno, Dias, Kovacic, Grealish, Gundogan, Bernardo, Reis, Nunes, McAtee#ManCity | @etihad pic.twitter.com/yLDMaa20ed
— Manchester City (@ManCity) February 23, 2025
01:24 PM GMT
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01:18 PM GMT
Guardiola to wield the scalpel
Pep Guardiola is ready to make major surgery to his Manchester City squad this summer to have a group of players fit enough to challenge for the Premier League title again.
The City manager has highlighted the problem of injuries as one of the key factors behind a slump in results, with Rodri among the senior players sidelined long term and John Stones the latest to pick up a problem which could require an operation.
Guardiola’s squad has collectively missed more than 100 games through injury this season, which was a marked increase on previous campaigns. He now expects talks over which players will be part of future plans to get City back competing at the top of the table.
“We have to sit down with the doctors, physios, the players, agents and be clear that some of them cannot sustain every three days – every month or two months playing every three days. This is the reality,” Guardiola said.
“The quality is there [but we have] injuries for a long time and demanding opponents. We deserve to have a bad season, it can happen. The reality is for the future if we want to be there again we need fit and available players. It’s so, so demanding. The teams are quicker, faster, stronger and we cannot handle it right now.”
Kyle Walker, Jack Grealish, Nathan Ake, Kevin De Bruyne, Ederson, Manuel Akanji and Stones have missed games this season through differing injuries.
Guardiola confirmed that De Bruyne was an unused substitute at the Bernabéu despite being fully fit, adding : “The relationship with Kevin is exceptional. It was just a decision.
“The players don’t ask the reason why, and it is never ever personal. Jérémy [Doku] didn’t play either.”
01:11 PM GMT
Preview: Champions vs champions presumptive
Good afternoon and welcome to live coverage of Manchester City versus Liverpool from Etihad Stadium, a match between the champions in fourth and the league leaders who are 17 points ahead of them. It’s a fixture with much recent needle because Liverpool were the one club since 2017 regularly to challenge the Guardiola supremacy, their commanding title triumph in 2020 the one splash of red between six sky blue league championships. Jürgen Klopp also bloodied City’s noses in the Champions League back in 2018 and the FA Cup four years later but you have to go back to 2015 for an away victory in the league, with four draws and four City victories since Pep Guardiola took charge.
Given City’s frailties and the misguided decision to try one too many squeezes of the lemon with an ageing squad, partly addressed in January with a handful of signings, Liverpool go into the match s favourites but not in transcendent form having kept only three clean sheets in the 13 games since beating City 2-0 at Anfield. Yes, they remain unbeaten since Forest came to town but they have drawn six of those 13 and one would have expected Arsenal to exploit those 12 dropped points rather better than they have done. Instead, after the second-placed club’s limp performance in yesterday’s defeat by West Ham and with most sane pundits having called it for Liverpool some weeks ago, they can extend their lead to 11 points today with victory.
No news yet about whether Erling Haaland is available after the knee injury sustained during the walloping of Newcastle. It confined him to the bench for the defeat by Real Madrid in midweek, a role Jamie Carragher suggested was down to his desire to avoid Antonio Rüdiger, a proposition that Guardiola has scorned. Carragher says his tongue was firmly in his cheek but risking nuance or wit in football punditry is fraught with danger in days like these. Manuel Akanji and John Stones were ruled out on Friday, joining Rodri and Oscar Bobb on the sidelines. The absence of Joe Gomez and Conor Bradley leave Liverpool looking light in defenders on the bench but Cody Gakpo has a decent chance of returning.
