Manchester City (4-1-4-1)
Ederson Possibly unsighted for second goal. The keeper’s judgment was well poised, as usual. 6/10
Rico Lewis Popped into midfield to join González, ceded ball for corner that preceded Salah’s opener. Battled on. 5
Abdukodir Khusanov Tight in moving up to press; crucially timed sliding tackle on Salah in penalty area. Accomplished. 6
Nathan Aké Unluckily deflected home Salah’s strike; Liverpool’s ghost 9s were a concern. Taken off for Dias. 5
Josko Gvardiol Disappointing. Loose passes and Salah made a mug of him when fashioning his team’s second. 4
Nico González Holding player occasionally waved into position by Pep Guardiola; tried to ignite teammates. 5
Kevin De Bruyne Floated about in a free role; effort that worried the corner flag a collector’s item. Subbed. 5
Savinho Ran around but his end product lacked and his touch could be errant: toothless. 5
Omar Marmoush In Erling Haaland’s absence, one of Guardiola’s twin 9s: goal ruled offside, correctly. A menace. 7
Jérémy Doku Surged for his left byline but Liverpool repelled crosses before one killer pass to Marmoush. 6
Phil Foden Early attempt dribbled into Alisson’s hands; the second of City’s 9s was a nonevent 5
Substitutes: James McAtee (De Bruyne 66) 6, Ilkay Gündogan (González 77) 6, Mateo Kovacic (Marmoush 77) 6, Rúben Días (Aké 77) 6.
Liverpool (4-3-3)
Alisson Assured glovework when needed – which was rarely, as outfield colleagues gripped events vice-like. 7
Trent Alexander-Arnold Marmoush and Doku each fancied beating him – and did. Raking pass initiated Szoboszlai’s goal. 7
Ibrahima Konaté Monitored Foden throughout and long legs cut out balls over from the City flanks. Vigilant. 7
Virgil van Dijk Captain as smooth as repute. At one point had a (seemingly) friendly exchange with Guardiola. 8
Andy Robertson Savinho kept the left-back honest. Roved ahead when possible to support Díaz. Snapshot flew over. 7
Ryan Gravenberch His easy stride in the No 6 role had him gliding into position or ball-carrying past a foe. 6
Alexis Mac Allister Pinpoint corner pivotal in the first goal; his calm was key, also, to his side’s happy day out. 7
Dominik Szoboszlai Dinked layoff set up Salah’s goal and his own finish for the second was a lesson in cool. 8
Mohamed Salah Becoming ever better, as his 30th goal of the season and 21st assist, for Szoboszlai, showed. 9
Curtis Jones With Szoboszlai, one of Liverpool’s “false” central attackers but got scant change out of City’s backline. 6
Luis Díaz Winger went from peripheral to racing on to a Salah ball that Khusanov defended admirably. 7
Substitutes: Kostas Tsimikas (Robertson 74) 6, Wataru Endo (Jones 74) 6, Cody Gakpo (Díaz 79) 6, Harvey Elliott (Salah 90) n/a.
