Manchester City put in a
commanding performance to defeat Premier
League rivals Liverpool 3-0 on Sunday, giving Pep Guardiola a
win in his 1000th match as a
manager.
Manchester
City moved closer to Arsenal at the top of the Premier League
table with an emphatic win over rivals Liverpool
at the Etihad Stadium.
Celebrating his 1000th game as a manager, Pep Guardiola saw
Erling
Haaland score his 99th Premier League goal before further
strikes from Nico
González and Jérémy
Doku condemned Liverpool to yet another league defeat – their
fifth already in 2025-26.
It was an incredibly disappointing performance from Arne Slot’s
side, with Liverpool failing to register a single shot on target in
the game until the 76th minute.
Man City started brightly and had a golden chance to take the
lead in the 13th minute. Following a VAR review, Giorgi
Mamardashvili’s knee was deemed to have upended Doku in the box and
Haaland was given the chance to score from the penalty spot.
Looking to edge closer to 100 Premier League goals, the
Norwegian saw his spot-kick expertly saved by the Georgian
goalkeeper down low to his right, denying him his 99th goal in the
competition. That stop meant that since the start of 2023-24, no
goalkeeper has saved more penalties in Europe’s top five leagues
than Mamardashvili (6).
It was a common scene for City fans, having seen their side miss
four of their last five Premier League penalties against Liverpool,
while Haaland’s penalty failure was just his third from 20 attempts
in the Premier League.
It only took 16 minutes for Haaland to make amends. His 99th
Premier League goal finally came via an excellent header from
Matheus Nunes’ cross. He outjumped Ibrahima Konaté to direct his
header at goal, leaving Mamardashvili rooted to the spot and only
able to watch the ball nestle into the corner of his net. It was
his 17th headed goal in the Premier League, more than any other
player since he arrived in England.
Liverpool thought they’d levelled the scores in the 38th minute
via a Virgil van Dijk header following a Mohamed Salah corner, but
the goal was disallowed after Andy Robertson was deemed to be
obstructing Gianluigi Donnarumma while in an offside position.
González doubled City’s lead in first half added time, with his
strike from outside of the box clattering off Van Dijk’s foot to
deflect past Mamardashvili. It was the Spanish midfielder’s first
goal of 2025-26 and his first since scoring in the win over
Bournemouth back in May.
Liverpool went into the half-time break having just attempted
three shots, with none of those being on target. Across 74
competitive games under Arne Slot, it was only the seventh time
that the Reds had failed to attempt a shot on target before
half-time.
History told us that a Liverpool comeback was unlikely, with
City winning every one of their previous 71 Premier League matches
when leading by 2+ goals at half-time, since losing 3-2 to
Manchester United in April 2018. That statistic progressed to 72
games, and quite easily.
Doku was the standout performer throughout, constantly twisting
and turning Liverpool players inside out with his direct running
and quick feet. His 63rd minute goal was the least he deserved for
his efforts, and he won’t score many better in a City shirt. Coming
in off the right flank, the Belgian curled a long-range strike
beyond Mamardashvili to put his side 3-0 ahead and end a 24-game
run without a league goal. It also meant that this was the first
league game that Slot’s Liverpool side have ever trailed by three
goals.
This dominant victory was the perfect way for Pep Guardiola to
celebrate his 1000th competitive game as a manager, securing his
253rd win in the Premier League against one of their rivals for the
title. They still find themselves four points behind leaders
Arsenal as we hit the November international break, but far bigger
margins have been overturned, and in less time.
For reigning champions Liverpool, this latest defeat – their
fifth in their last six Premier League games – sees them trail the
Gunners by eight points after just 11 games. This defeat even sent
them below Manchester United in the Premier League table on goal
difference.
The only time they’d collected fewer points from their first 11
matches of a Premier League season across the last 10 years was in
2022-23 (16), and they finished that season outside of the UEFA
Champions League qualification spots (5th). A repeat performance
would be far from welcome following their expensive recruitment in
the summer.
Our Opta match centre delivers you all the
Manchester City vs Liverpool stats from their Premier League
meeting at the Etihad Stadium.
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 the official Opta stats
on the game as well.Â
Manchester City 3-0 Liverpool Post-Match
Facts
Manchester City ended a four-game winless run against Liverpool
in the Premier League (D2 L2), beating them for the first time
since April 2023 (4-1). This was just the fourth time in 25 games
against the Reds under Pep Guardiola that they have kept a clean
sheet, and their first against them in 14 meetings across all
competitions.
Liverpool have lost five of their 11 matches in the Premier
League this season (W6), the most defeats by a reigning champion at
this stage of a campaign since Leicester in 2016-17 (5). Only
Chelsea in 2015-16 (6) have ever lost more after 11 games of a
Premier League season as reigning champions.
Man City are unbeaten in their last eight Premier League home
games against the previous season’s title winners (W7 D1). Only two
sides have ever had longer unbeaten home runs against the reigning
champions: Liverpool (16 games, 2008-present) and Chelsea (13
games, 2002-2020).
Liverpool have lost four consecutive Premier League away games
for the first time since April 2012 under Kenny Dalglish (4). Those
four defeats in succession are now more than the Reds suffered in
their first 21 away league games under Arne Slot combined (W13 D5
L3).
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola took charge of his
1,000th game today, with his side’s 3-0 win against Liverpool being
the 716th victory of his coaching career (388th with the
Citizens).
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