Liverpool’s tilt at the 2024-25 Premier League title is beginning to look like a procession.
This trip to the Etihad was meant to be one of Arne Slot’s biggest tests in the remainder of the season but his side negotiated it with the minimum of fuss, closing out victory thanks to goals from Mohamed Salah (of course) and Dominik Szoboszlai to move 11 points clear at the top of the table.
Our experts analyse where the game was won and lost and where it leaves the campaign.
Has Slot’s new high ended the title race?
What a time for Liverpool to put together their best 90-minute performance of the season.
This was not the all-action attacking juggernaut that has lit up the Premier League so far. This was a considered, professional and clinical from Slot’s side at the moment they needed it most
Manchester City are far from the best version of themselves, but Liverpool still had a job to do at the Etihad, where they had not won in the league since 2015. With Arsenal losing at home to West Ham, it was the perfect chance to put themselves in an even better position to lift the title.
The defensive cracks they had shown in keeping only three clean sheets in their previous 13 league games since the last time these two teams met were non-existent.
Led by Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate, they set up a wall which proved impenetrable. In attack, the opportunities they had were sporadic, but when they got them, they took them. Salah was once again at the heart of everything, scoring the opening goal and then serving up the assist for Szoboszlai, as Liverpool scored twice with their first three shots in the game.
There have been games this season where Liverpool have been unstoppable or irresistible. This was a different type or performance – a vintage away performance where Slot’s side minimised threat and maximised attacking moments — and provided the defining moment on the weekend when the title race swung decisively towards Merseyside.
Andy Jones
How Liverpool changed approach to brilliant effect
Slot’s ability to tweak his tactical set-up has been one of the most refreshing parts of his tenure on Merseyside.
In recent weeks, he has asked Ryan Gravenberch to the right flank against Bournemouth, pushed Andrew Robertson higher against Aston Villa without a recognised left winger, and on Sunday afternoon he tweaked the overall shape in possession.
Arne Slot changed his formation for the trip to City (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
Rather than play with a recognised centre-forward, Slot elected to play a 4-2-4 system with two No 10s in the form of Curtis Jones and Szobozslai. While a less familiar system, Slot has experimented with this set-up in pre-season and even sampled it in a League Cup tie against Brighton in the early stages of the campaign.
In such a high-profile game, this was a gamble that certainly worked as Liverpool seemed to have more bodies in midfield and attack with such an approach. For Szobozslai in particular, the Hungarian international continued his excellent form in recent weeks after being picked out by his manager ahead of the game for his relentless work rate.
Slot asked for more attacking output from Szobozslai earlier this season, with his return of goals and assists not necessarily matching his undoubted talent going forward. A well-taken left-footed finish to put Liverpool two goals ahead was another reminder that Liverpool’s No 8 is playing some of the best football of the season at the moment.
Pressing from the front, dropping back to help his defence, and running beyond City’s last line was all on show on Sunday afternoon, with Szobozslai being a strong contender for player of the match.
Mark Carey
De Bruyne’s sad slump
Kevin De Bruyne’s decline is sad to watch at this point.
There have been several examples of him having a bad game against top teams over the past 12 months but what has become just as telling in recent weeks is that he has been left on the bench for some of the biggest matches, including against Arsenal and Real Madrid this month.
It is clear now that his best days are gone and while there may well be a reminder or two of his quality before the end of the season, this will surely be his final year at City, given his contract ends in the summer and the performances simply do not justify an extension.
There were some glaring examples of things not going his way in this match, including that left footed shot on the stroke of half-time that ended up near the corner flag, and his best efforts to keep Liverpool out — he does indeed continue to give everything — only ending in a chase back to the same corner flag, where Alexis MacAllister nudged him off balance to earn Liverpool a corner. He was withdrawn shortly afterwards, with James McAtee on in his place as City’s first change.
De Bruyne has been arguably the best player the Premier League has seen and if this is his final season, it is hardly a fitting end.
Sam Lee
How long balls undid Guardiola’s side (again)?
For all the frustrations that Pep Guardiola has witnessed this season, the biggest one must be Manchester City’s inability to learn from their mistakes.
Wednesday’s loss to Real Madrid would have undoubtedly been analysed within an inch of its life by Guardiola, but the first goal scored by Kylian Mbappe coming from a simple ball over the top should have been a warning sign for what was to come on Sunday afternoon.
When playing with such a high line — as City are this season — it is imperative that there is pressure on the opposition player on the ball to prevent him from lifting his head up. Giving a defender the time and space to play a ball over the top is inviting trouble, and you would have thought that City’s back line would have been on high alert after similar blunders in midweek.
Instead, Trent Alexander-Arnold’s simple ball over the top to Salah was too easy from a City perspective, unlocking their defence before he passed to Szoboszlai to finish — seeing Liverpool pull two goals ahead before the break.
UK readers watch here:
Dominik Szoboszlai slots it home 🔥 pic.twitter.com/scGst1IueG
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) February 23, 2025
U.S. readers watch here:
DOMINIK SZOBOSZLAI. 2-0. LIVERPOOL ARE CRUISING AT THE ETIHAD.
📺 Peacock | #MCILIV pic.twitter.com/I4ff6NKgzW
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) February 23, 2025
They repeated the trick with a ball in behind early in the second half for Szoboszlai to run onto, but while Curtis Jones was on hand to convert his lay-off, the Hungarian had strayed fractionally offside.
Of course, you have to give credit to Liverpool. They cannot be pinned down to a dogmatic style of play under Slot, and it was assistant manager Sipke Hulshoff who gestured for the visitors to go long to bypass the City press.
It has been one of the key strengths of Liverpool under their new manager. Long possession sequences? No problem. Punishing moments in transitional counter-attacks? Check. Direct play into the forward line when the opposition aren’t structured in their press. You bet.
You can point the finger at City’s weaknesses all you like, but Liverpool have become a Swiss army knife this season — adapting to nearly every challenge posed to them across every competition.
Mark Carey
A Liverpool corner clicks (at last)
To say Liverpool have not been particularly prolific from corners this season would be kind.
Given the number of corners they force most weeks and the presence of centre-backs Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate in the box, you would expect them to be more prolific from those situations.
That has not been the case this season, and while they have tried to vary their approaches, clever short corner routines that have provided high quality shooting chances have been in short supply.
Heading into the game they had scored three goals from set pieces, the lowest of any Premier League side this season. But they saved the best move in the playbook for a huge moment in their season as they extended their league at the top of the Premier League to 11 points.
The move began when Alexis Mac Allister slid a low pass toward the near post…
Szoboszlai made a bending run from behind the two Manchester City defenders patrolling the front post…
His delicate pass was perfectly-weighted for the onrushing Salah, who had held his position towards the edge of the box…
The Egypt international struck towards goal, and with the help of a deflection off Nathan Ake, it sailed past Ederson into the net.
It was a move reminiscent of the Bournemouth corner routine that undid Arsenal earlier this season, and the effect of Liverpool’s version on the north Londoners was equally deflating.
Slot was disappointed his side conceded from a set-piece in the 2-2 draw with Aston Villa. He believes they can define games against top sides and on this occasion Liverpool won the set-piece battle.
Andy Jones
Doku and Savinho continue to frustrate
Had Dominik Szoboszlai’s third goal stood, at a time when Liverpool were cutting through City at will, this could have got seriously embarrassing, but the dynamic shifted a little after it was ruled out for offside and City immediately won a corner at the other end, with the home side having plenty of the ball for the remainder of the game.
The fact that that third was ruled out just 11 minutes into the second half suggests there was plenty of time for City to use that momentum shift in their favour, but in reality Liverpool still looked comfortable.
It was a difficult afternoon for the visitors’ full-backs, because Jeremy Doku and Savinho gave them hell throughout, dribbling at them and regularly getting the better of them. Doku attempted 18 take-ons, with 13 successful, while Savinho attempted six but was only successful once.
Jeremy Doku had another inconsistent afternoon (Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images)
Those successes essentially never led to anything, with the crosses either being cut out, or the wingers simply running the ball out of play.
On a day when De Bruyne struggled, City were not helped out by Phil Foden, who kept giving the ball away, and so it meant Guardiola’s men controlled possession for most of the second half, but rarely looked like doing anything with it.
Sam Lee
What next for City?
Wednesday, February 26: Tottenham (Away), Premier League, 7.30pm GMT, 2.30pm ET
What next for Liverpool?
Wednesday, February 26: Newcastle (Home), Premier League, 8.15pm GMT, 3.15pm ET
Recommended reading
(Top photo: Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
