0 voters
Unused Subs: Adrian, Milner, Keita, Jones, Origi, Phillips
Mohamed SALAH 13’
Sub: 
Xherdan SHAQIRI 
Roberto FIRMINO
Sub: James MILNER Trent ALEXANDER-ARNOLD
Meh.
A very attacking lineup from Jürgen today; he must’ve read certain posts on TAN advocating starting both Bobby and the in-form Jota and others criticising his seemingly over cautious approach whenever we visit the Emptihad.
It was good to see Matip return to partner Gomez at the heart of the defence; bizarrely, it was the first time these two had ever started a game together, due to Virgil’s previously impeccable attendance record. Hendo and Gini would provide a very hardworking engine room and the front four all track back well, so I didn’t fully understand the fears some people expressed before the match about our midfield being overrun.
Bobby was almost in straight away, beating the offside trap but failing to take it around Ederson in the opening minute; Robertson’s cross from the left was just too far ahead of Salah a couple of minutes later.
There was no doubt in Craig Pawson’s mind in the eleventh minute when Walker crossed Mané in the area. Penalty, clear as day. Mo stepped up and gave the Reds an early lead their play clearly deserved.
Sadio had another chance when released by Mo midway through the first half but opted to try to find Bobby instead of going for the shot himself. Gini was then caught in possession but Alisson thwarted Sterling at the far post.
City equalised against the run of play on the half hour, with Jesus turning Trent in the box and poking De Bruyne’s pass past Alisson. VAR then awarded City a penalty when Gomez was adjudged to have handled De Bruyne’s cross. There was no attempt to handle from the defender- indeed, he was pulling his arm away- but the rules are so farcical now that it is, by the letter of the law, a penalty despite no malicious intent.
Fortunately, De Bruyne blasted wide.
Trent was then played in on the overlap by Mo but his shot was saved well by Ederson. Our number 66 then rifled a free kick over in first half stoppage time; not one of his better efforts. Another late Reds attack came to nothing, with Firmino floundering in the City box, and it was honours even at the break.
Both keepers did well to snuff out promising attacks to start the second half, before Jota failed to connect cleanly with Ederson’s attempted clearance and the home goalie fell gratefully on the ball.
Jesus missed a golden opportunity ten minutes into the second period, nodding Cancelo’s flighted cross wide when completely unmarked; Bobby blasted over soon afterwards when trying to find the top corner, while De Bruyne’s dipping shot from 20 yards also cleared the bar.
Shaqiri replaced Firmino just before the hour; the Brazilian still looks way short of his dazzling best. Trent then pulled up when attempting to sprint; he had to be replaced by Milner.
As the rain continued to fall, so the standard of football declined. What had been an enthralling end-to-end encounter became a litany of misplaced passes and hopeful punts, certainly not befitting the two best teams in the country.
It’s a sign of how far we have come that the home side seemed happy to settle for a point in the last ten minutes; our players had run themselves into the ground and were just waiting for the final whistle. The international break is followed by the visit of table-topping Leicester City to Anfield; a chance for us to head back to the summit of the league. At least we ended our run of three consecutive defeats at the Emptihad, I suppose.
MOTM: in order to allay @Alright_Now ‘s fears of encroaching elitism, I will nominate Will and his team at London Beer Factory for their brilliant tiramisu stout called Zia. Only £3.50 from Tesco; just buy it. It’s fucking ace.
Tough tough game, looked fucked after 50mins, been a long season already!!
Hendo excellent.
Fucking good point that. Two better than we managed there last season, so I’ll take it all day.
Our league to lose.
Well down for a half and still handled them quite comfortably.
Just keep collecting the points.
Great first half where we could have scored lots but second half was a containment job , possibly should have had a pen but not even viewed by var. onwards and upwards.
Good game, not disappointed with a point given the penalty, Trent injury, conditions and Jesus chance. International break at the right time for us. Hope Thiago, Fab and Trent are back by then. Matip and Mane excellent and class above.
Alisson superb as well, oozes confidence and it trickles down to the team. Happy with the CB partnership performance given they were paired for the first time. All in all, not letting City gain on us should do wonders long term.
These are great and it’s nice to see you at least attempt to become a man of the people.
Better point for us than them. That’s all I know.
Poor choice of formation imo. But what do I know… ^^
A point there isn’t a bad one by any means, so no problems in that regard. But I feel that with the same formation as against Atalanta, we could have battered them. Maybe a case of overthinking the occasion.
Hopefully Trent is ok, fingers crossed!
I have this nagging feeling that had Thiago been available and playin we win that game.
Ah well, good point. Well played the lads
Heavy Heavy pitch needs to be taken into account when assessing our game…
Will take the point given that they had us on the back foot at times. We had enough to win the game, as well, but they missed a penalty and I’m not sure how Jesus missed that header in the second half. I think Bobby needs a rest, I get why Klopp would play him in an away game and why perhaps after Diogo’s performance in midweek that he wanted everyone to be reminded of Bobby’s value, but he just looks out of sync. Anyway, not a bad result all things considered (and how many predicted our being out of the title race without Virgil 
).
Good result considering the chances City had, inc the missed penno.
Thought we looked imperious for chunks of the game but we slowed right off after Trents injury, and the slowing down of the pitch.
The kinda game that was crying out for Thiago.
Let’s hope Trent is back for the next game.
Hopefully trent not too serious
Good result, we’d have won without so many injuries. Draw fair on balance; players running on empty at the end.
Gini sloppy. Bobby good off the ball; poor on it. Other than that everyone did brilliant.
Pawson gave up on reffing that about 15 mins into the second half and thought “fuck it, everything to City can’t be arsed making a decision”.
Take a point. Interesting formation which can be used against weaker teams.
Today we were lucky in the 2nd half to come away with a draw.
Honestly, we should have won it considering the amount of chances we made.
Still can’t believe klopp didn’t make the 3rd sub.
We were empty.
Type of result that will suit us when we knock-them out in the latter stages of the CL…
Take a point all day long. Great first half but both teams visibly knackered after an hour. Hope Trent injury is not too serious. Thought Gomez and Matip both did a good job in keeping their attacks to a minimum. Gave Robbo my MOM for his tireless work.