Manchester City midfield ace Kevin De Bruyne has waxed lyrical about Julian Alvarez and Jack Grealish after they made telling contributions in Saturday's 4-1 win over Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium.
City, who had been beaten 1-0 by the Merseysiders in the reverse fixture at Anfield back in October, cruised their way to a seventh successive victory in all competitions, despite falling behind to Mohamed Salah's 17th-minute opener. Alvarez brought Pep Guardiola's side level just ten minute later, finishing off a sweeping move, before De Bruyne doubled their advantage right at the very start of the second half.
Ilkay Gundogan extended City's lead to 3-1 seven minutes later before Grealish completed the rout with just under 20 minutes of normal time left on the clock. Grealish was a constant threat throughout, with his performance worthy of a goal.
READ MORE: Jack Grealish showed he is a true City player vs Liverpool
Alvarez, too, produced an eye-catching performance, capped off by scoring his 13th goal of the season in all competitions. The Argentine was tasked with spearheading the Blues' forward line in the absence of Erling Haaland, who watched from the stands because of an injury problem.
But despite being without the talismanic Norwegian, who has netted a staggering 42 goals this season, City coped more than fine, with Alvarez earning recognition from De Bruyne.
"Erling is an unbelievable player but we've been winning loads of games in the last eight years that I've been here," said De Bruyne. "He's an additional piece that helps us a lot, but we know if he's not there we have Julian who is a World Cup winner.
"I don't think it's a bad replacement we have as a teammate – everybody knows their task and whoever is on the pitch will do the job."
Grealish, meanwhile, has stepped up his attacking contributions in recent months and now has 12 direct goal contributions (goals and assists) to his name this season. It is two more than he managed in the whole of last term.
De Bruyne added: "He's been really good – even since the beginning. Maybe the only difference now is that he scores a little bit more and gives more assists.
"His overall play has been excellent. Everybody has been happy [with him]."
READ NEXT:
