With the Reds comfortably turning Man City over 2-0, there were discussion points aplenty to mull over as Liverpool supporters made the most of a glorious day at Anfield.
Before the game, there were fears that Man City‘s luck would turn and that Sunday could be the moment their quality players turned things around.
Thankfully, this wasn’t the case and Liverpool dominated against Pep Guardiola’s side, producing a display that was reminiscent of Jurgen Klopp‘s teams’ but with Arne Slot‘s added influence on the flow of the match.
Here, Sam Millne (@sam_millne) and Olivia Heslington (@livfhes) discuss the good, the not-so-good and Liverpool’s defensive options going forward after Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Man City.
The good…
LIV: It’s getting to the point where there are no more words in the English dictionary to describe the feeling!
Another game goes by and it’s as if we are just unstoppable. Real Madrid and Man City in the same week and we won both – nobody would’ve said that at the start of the season when the fixture list was announced and here we are.
We have to say again, Mo Salah is incredible in every game. An assist for the first goal and scoring the second – he is here, there and everywhere.
SAM: It may be early in the season but if you can’t enjoy the football now, when can you?
Winning the league isn’t just about lifting the trophy, it is about the journey you go on across the season as wishes turn to expectation and desire turns to need.
The nine-point gap to Arsenal can be closed very quickly, but Liverpool have shown they aren’t a team to collapse quickly.
A setback, which is entirely possible at Newcastle or Everton, should be just that, a setback, and Liverpool should have the mental fortitude to fight until the very end for the league.
Enjoy this, Reds; it’s not every season that Liverpool win 18 of their first 20 games!
LIV: I also thought Virgil Van Dijk was superb. It was a proper captain’s performance from the centre-back.
He really kept Haaland in his place and didn’t allow him any through runs. Apart from the last-minute mistake, he had an excellent performance and Kelleher kept us that clean sheet.
Obviously Harvey Elliott came back for a few minutes from his injury and that was great to see, too.
The mentality our side must have now will be incredible – nine points clear at the top of the table and it doesn’t look like other teams will take any from us.
The bad…
LIV: Pointing out the obvious, the contract situation for our three players and our injury list are the negatives.
It gets more and more worrying as games go on, and we’re finding out the club still haven’t made strong enough offers yet.
Given they are key players in our squad, it’s getting harder and harder to ignore and you’re relying on hope really. If we don’t hear about anything come January, I think that’s when the stress will increase.
SAM: As Liv says, the contract situation is a worry but thankfully doesn’t seem to be affecting the team in any way.
Something that will have a direct impact on the side, though, is the injury list.
Konate, Tsimikas and Bradley are all a big miss as Liverpool try to rotate over a busy Christmas period. There’s also still no sign of Diogo Jota who has now been out for five weeks.
How do you assess Liverpool’s defensive options with Bradley, Konate and Tsimikas injured?
SAM: The main issue with all three being injured at once is the lack of cover we now have.
Slot has been keen to keep his full-backs fresh so far and this will become increasingly difficult with no clear replacements for Alexander-Arnold or Robertson.
We know Joe Gomez can play across the backline, so he may now get an extended run of games as he is asked to fill in on both sides of the defence.
Interestingly, though, against Man City, we saw Jarell Quansah come on for Trent at right-back, but he doesn’t seem like an obvious choice to start a game in that position.
Wataru Endo and Curtis Jones have been touted as potential options to play at right-back, too, but neither would be naturally suited to the role – the same can be said for anyone filling in for Robertson.
LIV: It’s a massive blow I think. We don’t have many backup players for our defence as it is – if Robertson were to get injured now, we’d have no one to replace him because of Tsimikas being injured too.
Bradley’s performance against Madrid as well was just outstanding. It’s such a shame it ended in the way it did because I personally think he’ll be very important to us.
It’s good we have Gomez who can slot into any position at the back, make no fuss and get on with it. Liverpool are lucky to still have him.
Konate’s presence at the back is exceptional too – same again with Bradley, he holds the line and he doesn’t back down from a challenge.
Like I said before, the squad depth is a huge challenge for us now at the back and with the list of fixtures we are up against, it won’t be easy.
