Manchester City 4-1 Liverpool: Reds player ratings from a disappointing defeat | Premier League 2022-23

Manchester City sent a strong message in the Premier League title race by defeating Liverpool 4-1 at home on Saturday (April 1).

Liverpool struck the first blow fairly early on, with Mohamed Salah sweeping a fine curled finish into the top corner in the 17th minute. This spurred the hosts into action and produced a swift response through Julian Alvarez, who scored in the 27th. Both sides created presentable opportunities but could not edge ahead as the first half ended all square.

Barely a minute after the restart, City took the lead as Kevin de Bruyne finished off a fine team move. The Reds were still finding their footing in the second half when Ilkay Gundogan put City further ahead with an extremely composed finish. Pep Guardiola’s men assumed complete control of the game from then on, adding a fourth through Jack Grealish in the 74th minute. Liverpool offered very little after taking the lead, as Salah’s strike was their only effort on target in the entire game.

The win sees Manchester City cut the gap atop the Premier League table down to five points, while Jurgen Klopp’s men stay sixth.

On that note, here are the Liverpool player ratings from the game.

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Alisson: 4/10

Despite making four saves, Alisson could have done more to prevent at least one of the four City goals.

Trent Alexander-Arnold: 4/10

Alexander-Arnold had a tough time dealing with Grealish, who had a lot of joy running down his flank. He was also fairly ineffective going forward, playing the odd probing long ball but offering little of note.

Virgil van Dijk: 4/10

Van Dijk and his fellow defenders struggled to keep City's attackers at bay.

Van Dijk made the most tackles (4) in the game, in addition to seven clearances and three recoveries. However, he and Konate were regularly caught too high up the pitch, which proved costly for Liverpool.

Ibrahima Konate: 4/10

Like van Dijk, Konate could not keep up with the movement of the City attackers. He was caught out of position on more than one occasion which led to a goal.

Andy Robertson: 4/10

Robertson got forward well and was a promising attacking outlet for Liverpool down the left flank. The left-back, however, struggled to contain Riyad Mahrez going the other way and was replaced in the 70th minute.

Harvey Elliott: 5/10

Elliott’s link-up with Salah on the right wing looked promising at times but could not create too many chances. The teenager was replaced by Oxlade-Chamberlain in the 70th minute.

Fabinho: 5/10

Fabinho could not make an impact on the game from midfield as he was effectively bypassed by the City players.

Jordan Henderson: 5/10

Like Fabinho beside him, Henderson struggled to keep up with City’s fluid attacking play and could not impose himself on proceedings.

Mohamed Salah: 6/10

Salah (L) was the lone bright spark for Liverpool in their disappointing outing

Often Liverpool’s furthest forward player, Salah looked threatening when he got on the ball and scored his goal very well. However, the Egyptian was rendered rather ineffective for most of the game by the close attention of the City defenders.

He picked up a booking in the 19th minute for dissent and was replaced in the 70th minute, seemingly to save him for upcoming matches.

Cody Gakpo: 4/10

Gakpo struggled to link up with his teammates, often dropping deep to get on the ball. He did not trouble the City defenders much and was replaced in the 82nd minute.

Diogo Jota: 5/10

Jota set Salah up for the opener but offered little else from the left wing as he could not get on the ball regularly. He was taken off in the 70th minute.

Substitutes:

Roberto Firmino: N.A.

With City comfortably in the lead and dominating possession, Firmino managed only six touches in the 20-odd minutes he spent on the pitch.

Darwin Nunez: N.A.

Nunez barely got a touch on the ball after coming on in the 70th minute.

Kostas Tsimikas: 5/10

Tsimikar replaced Robertson for the final 20 minutes and did a slightly better job at keeping Mahrez at bay. However, he did not offer anything going forward and spent the majority of his time on the pitch in his own half.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain: N.A.

Oxlade-Chamberlain came on in the 70th minute but did not have any impact on the game or the final result.

James Milner: N.A.

Milner spent less than 10 minutes on the pitch and barely got a touch of the ball in that time.