Lewis' best audition yet
He scored a Champions League goal at 18 and has already shown himself to be a very exciting prospect for Manchester City, but Rico Lewis had the toughest test of his career lining up against Liverpool. Unlike previous starts, Lewis was tasked with the responsibility of moving inside when City had the ball and emulating Joao Cancelo's role as quarterback and extra body in midfield.
Lewis was so energetic, that he was seemingly in two positions at once throughout, with teammates firing the ball at him to keep possession and the youngster passed every test. Liverpool even tried to move Mohamed Salah over to their left to pin Lewis back, such was his influence in City's build-up.
If his progress so far showed that Lewis can be an adequate right-back cover, this performance illustrated that he can operate a crucial tactical role in Pep Guardiola's complex system against top-class opposition, just as well as the senior players in front of him.
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Flexible formation proves a blessing and a curse
Pep Guardiola turned away with his arms aloft when James Milner broke the lines and teed up Darwin Nunez to strike the post in the first half. Luckily for City, the flag was up, but Guardiola was still unhappy with the chance being allowed in the first place.
So he will have been furious when Liverpool equalised with an identical move as Joel Matip brought the ball forward, found Milner in the same position, and Fabio Carvalho swept home in acres of space. In the second half, with Lewis pushing up, Liverpool scored a second by stretching the Blues back three. While City's flexible back four morphed into a three to supplement the attack to great effect, it proved their downfall in defence and Liverpool might not score two easier goals all season.
Haaland silences fitness doubts in nine minutes
Erling Haaland went into the World Cup break still nursing a foot injury, and having returned to training later than the rest of the squad in Abu Dhabi, there may have been doubts over his condition against Liverpool. Within 15 seconds, however, he put those doubts to bed with a run and effort that went wide, and he had his obligatory Etihad goal within nine minutes.
It was his first against Liverpool for City in three meetings, but the source was all too familiar - Kevin De Bruyne swinging a cross and Haaland darting in front of his man to score. The very nature of his 24th goal of the season should send a clear warning to City's rivals that their best asset only took nine minutes to rediscover his rhythm. And there's no sign of any ongoing fitness concerns.
De Bruyne shows World Cup woes are behind him
After such a disastrous World Cup, De Bruyne could be forgiven for licking his wounds for a few weeks and taking some time to get back into the right mentality to go again with City. After scoring and assisting in the Girona friendly, De Bruyne showed there will be no Qatar hangover with his 14th and 15th assists of the season against Liverpool.
That is now more than the 14 he managed in 45 appearances last term, with just 20 City appearances to his name in 2022/23. After looking so unlike his best for Belgium in recent weeks, he didn't need long to return to his usual self with a series of lovely whipped balls from both feet to help City along vs Liverpool.
Gomez's missed opportunity
After six weeks without a game, and a fortnight training without another left-back in the squad, Sergio Gomez must have thought a start against Liverpool was nailed on. But Guardiola had other ideas, and opted for the in-form Nathan Ake to play out of position at left-back against Salah.
That selection made sense, especially with City's backline morphing from a four to a three throughout. However, Gomez must feel he has missed an opportunity to impress given his relative freshness. With Chelsea awaiting in the FA Cup, and the Carabao Cup reaching the last eight, this might have been one of his last chances to get a run-out away from the Premier League to impress Guardiola.
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