On Thursday evening Manchester City booked a place in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup with a thrilling 3-2 defeat of Liverpool, and there were plenty of positives to take from the performance.
City played with a real intensity, seemingly energised and fresh despite the involvement of 16 of their first-team players at the World Cup in Qatar. Their pressing game plan - which didn't quite work when they last faced Liverpool in October - worked superbly, while Kevin de Bruyne put World Cup disappointment behind him with an excellent showing. Rico Lewis gave a glimpse of the future too with a tactically-astute performance way beyond his years.
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