'They are so fast': Pep Guardiola names five Liverpool players who Man City just couldn't deal with

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To think, Manchester City’s frontline was once the envy of all of Europe, let alone the Premier League. These days, that honour belongs to Liverpool.

The contrast could hardly have been more dramatic.

With Erling Haaland and Phil Foden marked out of the game, the lack of inspiration from Matheus Nunes and Rico Lewis – stationed wide on the left and the right – was in stark difference to Liverpool’s combustable cocktail of intensity, speed and explosiveness.

At times, Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Manchester City extending their lead over the champions to 11 points, it looked like two teams playing completely different sports.

Like an overzealous kid in the local park walloping his football straight into Pep Guardiola’s chess table and scattering his pawns and bishops off in all directions.

Mo Salah scored one and assisted another. Cody Gakpo’s early tap in was his seventh in nine matches for club and country.

The ferocious pressing of Dominik Szoboszlai and Luis Diaz – not to mention late substitute Darwin Nunez – battered Man City into submission. Liverpool doing to Guardiola what Guardiola so frequently did to others over the years.

Pep Guardiola highlights threat of Mo Salah, Cody Gakpo and co at Liverpool

“The first 50, 55 minutes we [struggled], like many other times coming here in our prime. We suffered, they scored the goal, we are 1-0 down,” Guardiola explains, speaking at a press conference.

“We cannot compete against Liverpool. Not just Liverpool but many other clubs, the transitional teams [who can hit us quick on the counter-attack].

Not for the first time recently, Guardiola’s team selection came under the microscope as Man City suffered a sixth defeat in seven games. He left wingers Jeremy Doku, Jack Grealish and Savinho on the bench alongside Kevin de Bruyne, with Nunes and Lewis starting instead in the wider roles.

Guardiola’s explanation was that he wanted more control over possession. He felt that keeping the ball was the best defence against Liverpool’s dynamism on the counter.

It was a tactic which didn’t really bring about the desired results, of course, even if City did dominate 57 per cent of the possession on Sunday afternoon.

“I love wingers but I wanted more control because we know, when they lose [the ball], the counter-attack with Salah, with Szoboszlai, with Luiz, with Gakpo and [after that] Nunez,” Guardiola adds.

“They are so fast. Stronger, quicker, faster than us in that position.”

Stronger, quicker, faster and, most importantly, better.

Arne Slot ready for Newcastle United challenge at St James’ Park

There is surely no finer team in European football right now than Arne Slot’s rampant Reds.

Liverpool swept aside Real Madrid in the Champions League only a few days earlier, after all, while Manchester City were vanquished in similarly dismissive fashion by a side reminiscent of the Jurgen Klopp team which had the Premier League title pretty much wrapped up by Christmas day back in 2019/20.

Their record under Slot now stands at a remarkable 18 wins from 20 games.

Liverpool will hope to maintain – or even extend – their nine point advantage over Arsenal on Wednesday night. While Mikel Arteta’s outfit host Ruben Amorim’s revitalised Manchester United, Liverpool travel to an inconsistent Newcastle.

“I think if Liverpool is number one, two, three or four [in the table], it’s always a very special game for the teams we face,” Slot said during his Tuesday press conference. “It doesn’t matter that much what the league table tells you.

“If Liverpool comes, then their stadium is sold out and everybody wants to play us and wants to have the best game against us – like they have against Arsenal, Man City and all the others.

“[My players] also know that it’s a long season. And, to win the league against the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal and City, because I see those three as our main competitors at the moment, they all know that we have to be for nine, ten months on top of their game.

“If you let down for a second, these clubs show up immediately. They also see the quality of Chelsea, they’ve experienced the quality of Arsenal and also of City already. They know we have to stay on top of our game.

“And then now facing Newcastle, they don’t need me to tell them how difficult the game tomorrow will be.”