Riyad Mahrez blew the chance to inflict Liverpool’s first Premier League defeat of the season by sending an 85th minute penalty high over the crossbar as Manchester City missed the opportunity reclaim top spot in the Premier League.
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City missed the chance to earn a first Premier League win at Anfield since 2003, but a goalless draw extends Liverpool’s winless run to four matches, with Stones keen to stay positive after his side moved top of the table on goal difference.
The Nations League was introduced this year by European soccer’s governing body UEFA largely to replace friendly matches with competitive games in a mini-group format.
“When he is a player for a long time with us, sooner or later he will go many, many times to Anfield”. It is much easier to say it was a penalty when they didn’t score, but I saw it and I don’t think there’s a lot to discuss with it.
He noted that his England midfielder Jordan Henderson had barely two weeks’ rest following the World Cup in Russian Federation.
Liverpool currently now sit third, following Chelsea’s 3-0 win at Southampton earlier today. In Guardiola’s three seasons at Bayern Munich, he won the Bundesliga three times, and two of those were while Klopp was at Borussia Dortmund.
“John is a goalkeeper maniac”, said Jurgen Klopp in August.
“We will see on Saturday”, the City boss told Sky Sports. “I don’t know because we haven’t spoken about it”. We defended really well. “If you play City you have to be 100 percent spot on and confident”.
Guardiola did not want his side to be undone by the bloodying red attacking blurs that have come to define and decide these fixtures and admitted he meant to oversee a match of attrition rather than attacking splendour.
Liverpool and City generally provide open, expansive games with goals aplenty, but this meeting was a boring affair short on flair and excitement.
“We had the ball a lot today but we had to be ideal in defending”. Up and down they (Liverpool) are the best team in the world in these transitions, offensive, defensive, it is built for that. We used the ball better.
“I am comfortable with the performance”.
That’s not how they usually do things, at all, but such are the fine margins this season, it proves how much respect they have for one another.
“Doing that in Anfield, that is so complicated”.
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City had already had two shouts for penalties – one when Sergio Aguero appeared to be bundled over by Dejan Lovren and one when the Croatia caught Gabriel Jesus with a flailing arm – when Virgil van Dijk tripped Leroy Sane.
