Manchester City recorded an emphatic 3-0 win over Liverpool on Sunday Erling Haaland (£14.8 million), Nico González (£5.9 million) and Jeremy Doku (£6.4 million) on the scoresheet.
Here are our scout notes from the Etihad Stadium.
DOCUMENT “EXCELLENT”
Jeremy Doku was Manchester City’s star on Sunday and caused chaos along Liverpool’s right flank.
The Belgian fully deserved his goal in the second half and fired his effort from the edge of the penalty area into the far corner.
He linked up beautifully with City’s other attackers in a part winger/part central role, also winning the penalty that Haaland failed to convert and completing seven of his eight actions.
“Of course Jeremy’s threat next to Erling was excellent [Haaland]. By far one of the best in terms of influence. Their right back Conor [Bradley] is so fast, I saw his match against Vinicius Junior. We played a really good game.” – Pep Guardiola on Jeremy Doku
Doku has certainly brought more consistency to his play this season, although it is important to note that Sunday’s strike was his first league goal since January.
Man City played some really good football in this match and they could and should have won by a bigger margin.
Haaland opened the scoring shortly after a penalty was saved by a penalty specialist Giorgi Mamardashvili (£4.3m), before Gonzalez added a second and Doku finished it off with the third.
That is 99 Premier League goals for Haaland, with a trip to Newcastle United after the international break.
FULL-BACKS IMPRESSIONS / WHY CHERKI WAS ENGAGED EARLY
Matheus Nunes (£5.3 million) and Nico O’Reilly (£4.9m) each provided assists on Sunday, while also earning Defensive Contribution Points (DefCon).
Nunes has now played 90 minutes in six straight league games, while O’Reilly has started seven of the last eight.
The only one he missed, City lost 1-0 to Aston Villa.
You can never be completely confident, especially with players like Rayan Ait-Nouri (£5.8 million), Nathan Ake (£5.3 million), Abdukodir Khusanov (£5.4 million) and Rico Lewis (£4.8m) in the mix, but we are at least starting to see a degree of consistency in Pep Guardiola’s selection of full-backs.
O’Reilly in particular was excellent against Muhammad Salah (£14.2m), and has now produced an attacking return in each of his last three City starts.
“Nico O’Reilly has been great. Overall, everyone has been exceptional because they are still the champions. Sometimes we have put a full-back inside, sometimes he has been 10 or eight. He can play. His presence on set pieces in the long balls is quick. He is smart, he plays very well. I think he was very good, he did a very good job.” – Pep Guardiola on Nico O’Reilly
City remained unchanged from their last Premier League match against Bournemouth Rayan Cherki (£6.3m) starts his second league match in a row and Tijjani Reijnders (£5.5m) back in the bank.
However, Cherki only lasted 52 minutes, while Reijnders was an unused substitute.
“It was more difficult for Rayan because today the space was more on the left side and not on the right side because of the way they defended.” – Pep Guardiola on Rayan Cherki
SZOBOSZLAI A BOOKING AWAY FROM A BAN
Liverpool were not at the races on Sunday, raising more questions than answers ahead of their Gameweek 12 fixture.
To complicate matters further, Dominik Szoboszlai (£6.6m) – the sixth most bought midfielder of Gameweek 12 – and Conor Bradley (£5.0m) both secured their fourth bookings of the season.
They are now one yellow card away from a one-match ban.
Liverpool were unchanged from their impressive midweek victory over Real Madrid, which meant Florian Wirtz (£8.0 million) retained its place at the front Cody Agat (£7.5m) on the left wing.
Hugo Ekitike (£8.6m) also remained at the top, with Alexander Isaac (£10.4m) not yet ready to start.
“For me, he is in the final phase of his rehabilitation. Had two training sessions with us. Yes, we trained, but not with the intensity that would have been best for Alex. He is there if he needs to help us.” – Arne Slot about Alexander Isak
However, Ekitike was barely involved, failing to register a single shot on target and was taken off the pitch in the 55th minute.
Gakpo, who replaced him, squandered Liverpool’s best chance, while Szoboszlai’s thumping move was canceled out by Gianluigi Donnarumma (£5.7 million).
As for Salah, he would have claimed the assist Virgil van Dijk‘s (£5.9m) goal had it not been harshly ruled out. He also produced three shots, sending a big chance just a fraction wide of the post.
Overall, though, this was a disappointing showing.
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