On Sunday, Manchester City inflicted further misery on Liverpool as Josep Guardiola’s side defeated Arne Slott’s side 3-0 at the Etihad Stadium.
With this victory, Manchester City moved into second place, four points behind Arsenal.
However, Liverpool currently sit eighth in the league and have lost five Premier League games this season, struggling to perform and get the best out of their new players.
The defending champion is struggling with his performance and is that obvious? Slott has not been able to integrate new players into the team.
Whether it’s Alexander Isak’s fitness issues, Milos Kerkes’ inexperience, Florian Wirtz’s unfamiliarity with Premier League football or Hugo Ekitike’s instability, nothing is going right for the Reds at the moment.
Mohamed Salah has struggled to perform this season
Even the form of some reliable players has come under intense scrutiny.
Virgil van Dijk was not his usual self. Mohamed Salah has only scored four goals in the Premier League.
After the win at the Etihad, Guardiola revealed how his team neutralized Salah’s threat in the win over Liverpool.
As reported by the Liverpool Echo, Guardiola said:
“We press high to get the ball back quickly and I like to see teams make short passes and have the ability to run. We were really, really good in the first half offensively and defensively.”
“In the second half, we are talking about duels, and we all think we have to win the duels.We talked a lot about the duels in the last few days.
“We lost some duels at the beginning of the second half, which made the game even more difficult for the midfield players, but the back four and Nico (Gonzalez) were outstanding.
“I felt like we came back in many ways. I didn’t like the second half, it was really different from the first half. But we have to grow as a team. It was an important win. We are second in the standings.”
“Salah has been a nightmare for many years and Nico said we have to be aggressive with him,” the City manager said.
“It helped that whenever Mo had the ball, he had three or four guys around him.
“As a full-back, there is no better test than against Salah. Defensively, we were really good, especially in the first half.”
Pep Guardiola had the perfect plan to stop Salah
Salah is usually Liverpool’s biggest threat when they play against Man City.
The Egyptian winger made 24 appearances against Guardiola’s side, scoring 13 goals and providing eight assists. He usually likes playing against City.
But Coach Guardiola had a plan to stop him on Sunday, and his players followed that plan with great professionalism.
Nico O’Reilly, a 20-year-old left-back, deserves particular praise for his response to Salah.
‘One of the best’ – Pep Guardiola praises Liverpool star despite poor performance against Man City
