Liverpool player ratings, winners and losers vs Man City as Mohamed Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai fired Arne Slot's men to a convincing win at the top
ETIHAD STADIUM, MANCHESTER // When Liverpool is involved in a title race, Manchester City tends to be too. But not this time: by beating Pep Guardiola's men, the Reds have taken a big step towards Premier League glory, establishing an 11-point gap over Arsenal.
Goals from Mohamed Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai put Liverpool in a dominant position in the first half before the Reds saw out the result in the second. Curtis Jones, who played well, had a goal ruled out for an earlier offside, but Liverpool had done the work to get in front well in advance.
There remains work to be done to get over the line, but despite draws against Everton and Aston Villa, Liverpool has extended its advantage over Arsenalin the last week or so. It is in a fantastic position.
Winners
Moving level with Billy Liddell in the Liverpool all-time top scorers list by netting the first of the game here, Salah notched his 50th goal contribution of the season by opening the scoring after a well-worked corner. This was a big game, and the Egyptian once again showed up. Going forward, his threat is obvious; he also did plenty of work defensively.
Szoboszlai was superb too. He never stops running or looks like he is low on energy. With almost no rest, the Hungarian midfielder looked as fresh as ever. He also took the chance to shoot when it was the right decision to do just that, finding the back of Ederson's net to create a gap between the teams.
Losers
Trent Alexander-Arnold struggled a little with Jeremy Doku, though it didn't always lead to much. Salah and Ibrahima Konate helped him out but the Scouser couldn't move his feet fast enough to match the fleet-footed Belgian winger. It ultimately didn't make any difference in the game but that was a possible outlet for Manchester City to exploit. The biggest loser, really, was Arsenal.
Player ratings
Alisson Becker (7). What the Brazilian had to do, he did well and kept everything clean and tidy. He wasn't tested anywhere near as much as he might have expected, however, heading into the game.
Trent Alexander-Arnold (6). Jeremy Doku gave him the runaround early on, when he just couldn't seem to move his feet quickly enough to keep up with the tricky Belgian. He got into one excellent position to cross around the half-hour mark but made the wrong decision. He improved against Doku as time went on but didn't have a great impact going forward.
Ibrahima Konate (7). On one occasion in the first half, he gave possession away sloppily which could have caused his side an issue. He was generally solid, though, and was well-positioned to defend a number of crosses at the near post.
Virgil van Dijk (8). Made a number of good blocks and organized his defense as he always does. He was aerially dominant and cruised along without having to overstretch himself, mainly as a result of sensational positioning.
Andy Robertson (6). Savinho has the pace and trickery to cause him problems but the Liverpool left-back did reasonably well to keep under control. With Kevin De Bruyne on that side too it wouldn't have been easy. Just before he came off in the second half, he got turned a couple of times. Like Alexander-Arnold, didn't have a huge attacking influence.