By Opta Analyst | Created at 2026-10-11 19:11:41 | Updated at 2026-10-11 23:19:45
5 hours ago
After a turbulent two weeks, Manchester City returned to action with an emphatic 3-0 defeat of 10-man Liverpool at Anfield.
Manchester City delivered a statement of intent in their first game since being found guilty of breaching the Premier League’s financial regulations, swatting aside 10-man Liverpool 3-0.
Sunday’s contest at Anfield came amid the backdrop of the Premier League winning their case against Man City, who have appealed the result and maintain their innocence.
A vociferous home crowd jeered every touch and pass from City’s players throughout, yet the league leaders demonstrated their class with a clinical, ruthless showing in the wake of Ryan Gravenberch’s 62nd-minute red card.
Erling Haaland and Jérémy Doku scored in the space of three minutes, before Rayan Cherki capped off a sensational team move.
Liverpool started brightly, yet City came closest to an opener when Antoine Semenyo’s drilled cross skimmed through the six-yard box.
Gianluigi Donnarumma was forced into action at the start of the second half, with Liverpool having three shots in the space of a minute.
Donnarumma denied Lewis Koumas and Gravenberch, before Alexis Mac Allister curled wide.
Haaland then spurned a brilliant chance when he was put through by Semenyo, but the match then turned as Gravenberch received a harsh, second booking for a challenge on substitute Doku.
City did not look back from there. Within three minutes, Haaland had slammed in first time after Doku’s shot was deflected into his path.
Three minutes later, Doku curled a sublime finish over the top of Alisson.
Cherki added further gloss in the 78th minute, slotting home after a sensational move that involved 41 passes, which is the longest sequence resulting in a Premier League goal since Phil Foden netted against Nottingham Forest in September 2023 (46 passes).
Man City’s Show of Defiance
While City lodge their appeal against the guilty verdict, all Enzo Maresca’s team can do is focus on the here and now. And the here and now has them top of the Premier League, three points clear of Arsenal.
There were just two minutes and 37 seconds between Gravenberch being sent off for Liverpool and Haaland putting City 1-0 up, and it truly was a clinical showing from the visitors from then on.
Haaland has scored eight goals in his last eight appearances against Liverpool in all competitions – no other player has scored more than five goals versus the Reds since he joined City in 2022.
Doku scored his 12th Premier League goal, but only his second as a substitute (also October 2024 vs Fulham) – he is the third sub to score at Anfield for City in the competition after George Weah in September 2000 and Bernardo Silva in January 2018.
Liverpool, meanwhile, are now winless in eight in the Premier League when facing the team starting the day top of the league (D6 L2), their second-worst run behind nine matches between 2002 and 2008.
Andoni Iraola, whose unbeaten start has come to an end, may point to that dubious decision to send Gravenberch off, but overall, his team were second-best.
The Reds only registered 0.86 expected goals, with just 0.38 xG coming from open play. For a team littered with big-money attackers such as Florian Wirtz and Bradley Barcola, and backed by a fierce crowd, more might have been expected.
Our Opta match centre delivers you all the Liverpool vs Man City stats from their Premier League meeting at Anfield on Sunday 11 October.
The match centre below includes team and player stats, expected goals data, passing networks, an Opta chalkboard and more. It gives you everything you need to do your own match analysis.
Underneath the match centre you can find selected Opta facts on the game as well.
Liverpool vs Man City: Post-Match Opta Facts
- This was Liverpool’s joint-biggest defeat at Anfield in the Premier League after 4-1 defeats in October 2005 (v Chelsea) and February 2021 (v Man City) and 3-0 defeats in August 2015 (v West Ham) and November 2025 (v Nottingham Forest).
- A team have started with six straight wins in just two of the last seven Premier Legue seasons (since 2020-21): Manchester City in 2023-24 and Manchester City in 2026-27.
- Liverpool have gone winless in five successive Premier League home games (D4 L1) for the fourth time after March 1993 (5), February 2003 (7) and March 2021 (8).
- Despite only coming on in the 56th minute, Jérémy Doku recorded the most dribbles (5) and was directly involved in the joint-second most shots (2 shots, 2 chances created) of any Manchester City player in this game.
- Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola suffered his first Premier League defeat in 24 games (W10 D13) since losing 3-2 against Arsenal with Bournemouth in January. He has lost five times to Manchester City in the competition, his joint-most defeats to a single club (also 5 vs Liverpool).
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