Manchester City inflicted more misery on Liverpool on Sunday as Pep Guardiola’s side beat Arne Slot’s team 3-0 at the Etihad Stadium.
The win takes Man City back to second position, four points behind Arsenal.
However, Liverpool are now 8th in the league, struggling to perform and get the best out of their new signings, having lost five Premier League games this season.
The defending champions have struggled to perform and is it clear to see that. Slot has failed to integrate the new signings in his team.
Whether it is the fitness issues of Alexander Isak or the inexperience of Milos Kerkez, the unfamiliarity of Florian Wirtz with Premier League football or the inconsistency of Hugo Ekitike, nothing is going right for the Reds at the moment.
Mohamed Salah has struggled to perform this season
Even the form of some of their reliable players have come under scrutiny.
Virgil Van Dijk has not been his usual self. Mohamed Salah has only scored four Premier League goals.
After the win at the Etihad, Guardiola revealed how his team nullified the threat of Salah in the win against Liverpool.
Guardiola said, as reported by Liverpool Echo:
“We press high to regain the ball quick and I like to see my team do short passes and have the ability to run. The first half was really, really good offensively and defensively.
“Second half we talk about the duels and everybody in our mindset is we have to win the duels. We spoke a lot about the duels in the last few days.
“In the start of the second half we lost some duels and the game became more difficult for the players in the middle. But the back four and Nico (Gonzalez) were outstanding.
“It had the feeling we were back in many ways. I didn’t like the second half, really not like in the first half. But we have to grow as a team. It was important win, we are second in the table.”
“Salah has been a nightmare for many years and Nico said he had to be aggressive with him,” said the City boss.
“It helped that whenever Mo had the ball we had three or four players around him.
“You will never have a better test as a full-back than to face 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 come up against Man City.
The Egyptian winger has scored 13 goals and provided 8 assists for the Reds against Guardiola’s team in 24 appearances. He usually likes playing against City.
However, Guardiola had a plan to stop him on Sunday and his players followed the plan with great professionalism.
20-year-old left-back Nico O’Reilly particularly deserves praise for how he dealt with Salah.
‘One of the best’ – Pep Guardiola praises Liverpool star despite his poor performance against Man City