European Update: Breaking down the fireworks between Liverpool and Manchester City Sunday
What Liverpool and Manchester City matches lack in the traditional intensity and mutual hatred of other rivalries, they make up for in pure competitive spirit. Over the past five years, Liverpool vs. Manchester City has become the defining Premier League rivalry of the late 2010s and early 2020s simply because they are possibly the two greatest teams to ever grace the League, and their reigns of dominance have just so happened to coincide.
For the last four seasons, either City or Liverpool has won the title, and this season will almost certainly continue the streak, as third place Chelsea languishes 13 points behind Liverpool with only eight matches left to play this season.
In those seasons, City and Liverpool have routinely accumulated the highest point totals in Premier League history. In fact, the four highest single-season point totals all belong to either City or Liverpool. City is the only team to ever earn 100 points in a season — the famous “centurions” squad of 2017-18 — but Liverpool posted 99 points in its own title-winning season of 2019-20.
In a testament to the tight competition between these two clubs, the 2018-19 season gave us the third and fourth-highest points tallies simultaneously, when Manchester City barely clipped ahead of Liverpool’s 97 points to capture the title with 98.
In short, it’s a genuine miracle we have the ability to watch two behemoths of Premier League history battle each other for five consecutive seasons, given that Manchester City sat only one point ahead of Liverpool entering their match on Sunday. Unsurprisingly, the two clubs have dominated the Premier League again this year.
Liverpool scored the most goals this season (79) and City scored the second most (72). Manchester City conceded the fewest goals (20) and Liverpool conceded the second fewest (22).
Additionally, their underlying numbers suggests that, while Liverpool has perhaps been slightly lucky defensively, they are legitimately the best two teams in the league; no team creates higher quality chances than City or Liverpool and no team concedes fewer quality shots to their opponents than City or Liverpool.
The key to their dominance in both cases is considerable investment and near-perfect squad building. Since the arrivals of manager Jürgen Klopp at Liverpool and Pep Guardiola at City, both clubs have spent considerable money acquiring players, but have always done so with a plan for integrating signings and maximizing their abilities.
For instance, Liverpool spent a world record fee for a defender when it signed Virgil van Dijk from Southampton for £75 million and immediately made him the centerpiece of its back line, an athletic defender who could impose themselves on almost any forward in the world.
More recently, Liverpool acquired Luis Díaz as a long-term replacement for Sadio Mané at left-wing. That could cost up to £50 million, a steep price for a player from the Portuguese top division, but Díaz has immediately contributed to Liverpool, giving them flexibility and depth up front.
City has yet to see the best from midfielder Jack Grealish — the big summer signing of 2021 — but goalkeeper Ederson, center back Rúben Dias and midfielder/winger Bernardo Silva have all been home run signings of the Guardiola era.
While Klopp and Guardiola have their stylistic differences, both teams typically look to suffocate their opponents with possession and pressing, so it almost always results in fireworks when Liverpool and City face each other with their seasons on the line.
In typical fashion, the two sides delivered absolute fireworks once again. While some matches with a trophy on the line result in a cagey affair where both teams fear making mistakes and restrict themselves with conservative play as a result, Klopp and Guardiola never pulled their punches.
In the early days of the rivalry, Klopp allowed City to dominate the ball, but now that Liverpool has the defenders and midfielders whose on-ball ability matches City’s, the German coach has decided that the best way to play against City is to fight fire with fire.
Liverpool presses harder than City and pushes its back line up high, dangerously so at times. But he trusts the athleticism and positioning of Van Dijk and Joel Matip to go one-on-one with Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Jesus and Phil Foden.
While Liverpool will be slightly disappointed to leave the Etihad with a 2-2 draw, its bravado paid off. City took the lead on two occasions, and both times, Liverpool upped its tempo and equalized quickly, first through Diogo Jota, then Sadio Mané. Ultimately, Liverpool lacked the shots to put themselves 3-2 up.
Manchester City controlled possession with its casual aplomb, as Bernardo Silva roamed up and down the pitch, dictating tempo and ensuring the ball reached the feet of Foden and Kevin de Bruyne, who scored City’s first from outside the box with the help of a heavy deflection off Matip’s calf.
Jesus also had a memorable, industrious performance from left wing, netting the goal that put City ahead 2-1 and pressing Robertson relentlessly such that the Scottish full back, who normally runs the left touchline from box to box, didn’t have the liberty of pushing forward with his usual ease.
All in all, City and Liverpool played another classic, full of the technical and tactical excellence we’ve come to expect from Klopp and Guardiola’s squads. This rivalry is purely about soccer, and as such, these teams have immense respect for each other.
The postmatch interview on USA Network gave us a beautiful moment from Guardiola. “First,” he said, “Jürgen’s the best,” to which NBC’s Robbie Mustoe replied, “Well, he says you’re the best.”
Somehow, it’s true, they’re both the best — maybe the two best teams to ever compete in the Premier League.
Jack Hallinan is a freshman discussing the latest news surrounding European soccer. His column “European Update,” runs every other Monday.