After a lengthy hiatus, Liverpool returned to a miserable afternoon in Manchester as they were defeated 4-1 at the Etihad.
Mohamed Salah scored the game’s first goal early on, but Man City completely destroyed the Reds in the second half and eventually won the game with ease.
The outcome sees the Reds drop to eighth place in the league table, once again casting severe doubt on their chances of qualifying for the Champions League.
Both on and off the field, it gave fans something to talk about, including Pep Guardiola’s ᴀɢɢʀᴇssɪᴠᴇ celebration and a sighting of Thiago.
Arthur shakes Pep’s hand
The Man City manager was spotted celebrating in the faces of several of Liverpool’s substitutes after his team’s equalizer in the first half.
Kostas Tsimikas made the decision to avoid Guardiola during his shenanigans, but Arthur’s acceptance of a request for a handshake wasn’t lost on his followers.
The Brazilian was obviously only trying to be courteous, but it wasn’t the best course of action!
Thiago closer to his return
While still recovering from a hip flexor ɪɴᴊᴜʀʏ, Thiago is no longer available for selection. Nevertheless, the Spaniard participated in the noon match at the Etihad.
Before the game began, the midfielder was seen at the starting line and was even observed passing to Tsimikas.
Thiago is “in a good manner,” according to Klopp, who said in the pre-game news conference that he “will probably be part of next week’s training.”
It is obvious that Liverpool may benefit from his return.
Fans leave early
A handful of supporters were observed leaving the stadium amid Liverpool’s ᴅɪsᴀsᴛʀᴏᴜs second half performance as the away end started to empty.
Many of the visiting fans had had enough after Jack Grealish’s goal gave the home team a 4-1 lead, and it’s hard to blame them.
Rodri lucky to escape second yellow?
Several people believed that Rodri was lucky not to have been sent off in the first half when two tactical problems occurred quickly one after the other.
Jordan Henderson, the captain, led the Liverpool players who were protesting the midfielder’s foul on Cody Gakpo as they surrounded referee Simon Hooper.
Jurgen Klopp commented following the game, “I’m not sure we would have won against 10 ᴍᴇɴ,” for what it’s worth.
4-2-3-1 again
For the second game in a row, Klopp chose a 4-2-3-1 configuration, a choice that seems to be happening more frequently.
The Reds needed at least three goals to have a chance of moving on, therefore the method had been used away against Real Madrid.
Yet, there is now evidence to imply that the manager may favor this setup going ahead.
Almost seems to be shaking out 4-2-3-1 here with Gakpo in the ten off Salah so that's different.
— The Legacy Fan Offside (@LFCOffside) April 1, 2023
Could this be how he fits Salah alongside Gakpo, Darwin Nunez, and Luis Diaz?
