Liverpool and Manchester City played out a pulsating 1-1 draw at Anfield, as Jürgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola faced off for probably the last time in the Premier League. Check out all the best Liverpool vs Manchester City stats and facts on this page.
Liverpool and Manchester City played out a pulsating 1-1 draw at Anfield, as Jürgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola faced off for probably the last time in the Premier League.
John Stones put the visitors in front from a well-worked set-piece routine, turning in a wonderful Kevin Be Bruyne corner at the near post. Alexis Mac Allister levelled for Liverpool shortly after half-time from the penalty spot, after Ederson had sent Darwin Núñez flying in the Man City area. Guardiola’s side then survived an absolute barrage from Klopp’s Reds – who fired in 12 second-half shots – and a VAR scare deep into stoppage time to cling onto a valuable point.
It felt like two points dropped for Liverpool, who could have put a massive dent in City’s title bid. As it stands, Sunday’s visitors are still favourites to win the title according to the Opta supercomputer (45.9%), with Liverpool’s chances rated at 35.3%. Onlookers Arsenal (18.8%) were probably the biggest beneficiaries of this result.
The title race is now deliciously poised with just one point separating the three challengers.
Liverpool’s home record against Manchester City is excellent. Coming into this clash they’d only lost one of their last 20 home league games against them (W13 D6), a 4-1 defeat in February 2021.
Yet they started shakily, and City zipped together a few quick passing patterns early on to test Caoimhín Kelleher in the Liverpool goal. Julián Álvarez forced the Liverpool goalkeeper into a save with just two minutes on the clock, before De Bruyne found space in between the lines to lash a shot from the edge of the box that stung the Irishman’s gloves.
Helped by a raucous Anfield crowd, Liverpool stirred from their slumber after 15 minutes. Conor Bradley flashed a ball across goal, Dominik Szoboszlai should have done better with an unmarked header in the area and Luis Díaz cracked a shot just wide from the edge of the box. The Colombian could have put Liverpool ahead later on, too, had Núñez not strayed offside unnecessarily. It was one of five times the Uruguayan was given offside in the first half.
But then, a moment of pure excellence broke the deadlock. A well-worked corner routine from City – which started with Nathan Aké easing Mac Allister away from Liverpool’s near post, continued with De Bruyne’s exceptional low, whipped corner and ended with a Stones a tap in – put Pep Guardiola’s side in front.
Perhaps unexpectedly, it was Liverpool who enjoyed more of the territory in the first half, averaging more possession (53.2%) than City and attempting more passes in the final third (71 to 62). In fact, City completed just 220 passes in the first period, their second-fewest in a first half of a Premier League game, only behind the 214 they completed at Aston Villa in December. Their main attacking thrust came through transitional moments instead, via the pace of Erling Haaland, Phil Foden and Álvarez.
But early in the second-half, City pressed the self-destruct button, seemingly out of nowhere. A poor, underhit back pass from Aké left his goalkeeper Ederson short. The usually-composed Brazilian rashly tried to clear his lines and clattered into Núñez, bringing him down for an obvious penalty.
Mac Allister clinically dispatched it to level the game. The World Cup winner has now converted nine of his 10 penalties in the Premier League (90%), including each of the last eight in a row.
From then on it was a Liverpool onslaught. Díaz had three gilt-edged chances on his own to add a second goal, as City’s usually unflappable calm was punctured by an Anfield fervour and the rampant hosts who attempted five shots in as many minutes on the hour mark. City’s pass completion rate in the first 20 minutes of the second half was just 65%. They were rattled.
In the end, Liverpool had 19 shots in this match – their most in a Premier League game against Man City since February 2013 (22).
City bent but somehow did not break. Guardiola established a thin veil of calm thanks to his second-half substitutes, with Mateo Kovacic, who completed 27 of 29 passes after being brought on for a visibility unimpressed De Bruyne, in particular helping to keep hold of the ball.
But it was only a cloak of comfort for City who aside from a Jérémy Doku shot that hit the post late on, offered very little by way of attacking threat in the second half.
They also survived a massive scare late on when Doku put in a high challenge against Mac Allister with practically the last kick of the game, making slight contact with the ball as well as the Argentine’s chest. The VAR did not see enough to overrule it, however, and both sides had to settle for a point.
Klopp and Guardiola are two of the league’s greatest managers in history, and their iconic rivalry has defined the current era of the competition. Between them, they have combined to win the last six Premier League titles and record the four highest points total in Premier League history. If that is to be the last time we see them grace the field together in the Premier League, then all there is left to say is: thank you.
Liverpool vs Manchester City Stats: Post-Match Opta Facts
- For the second time in the last three seasons, Liverpool and Manchester City have drawn both of their meetings in a Premier League campaign (2021-22 and 2023-24). Four of the last six meetings between the two in the top-flight have ended level, as many as in the previous 17 combined (4).
- The team that has scored first in the last eight Premier League meetings between Liverpool and Manchester City has only gone on to win two of those games, with five of them ending level. With Liverpool coming from a goal down, they’ve now recovered a league-high 23 points from losing positions in the competition this term.
- Since the start of the 2020-21 season, no fixture has seen both sides score on more occasions in the Premier League than Liverpool v Manchester City (seven times in eight meetings).
- Liverpool had 19 shots in today’s game against Manchester City – their most in a Premier League game against the Citizens since February 2013 (22). 12 of those shots came in the second half, which was the most Man City have faced after half time in a league game since May 2021 (12 v Brighton).
- Kevin De Bruyne has been directly involved in 13 goals in 12 appearances for Manchester City in 2024 (two goals, 11 assists); the most of any Premier League player across all competitions this year.
- Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne has assisted seven goals against Liverpool in the Premier League, with only Ryan Giggs (8) assisting more goals against the Reds in the competition. Indeed, only Andrew Cole (14) and Ryan Giggs (12) have more combined goals and assists against Liverpool in the Premier League than De Bruyne (11 – four goals, seven assists).
- John Stones’ opener was the first set piece Manchester City have scored from at Anfield in the Premier League since November 2011 (Vincent Kompany from a corner) – before today, each of their previous 15 away goals against Liverpool in the competition had been netted from open play.
- Liverpool’s Alexis Mac Allister has scored nine of his 10 penalties in the Premier League (90%), including each of the last eight in a row. Meanwhile, after saving the first two penalties taken against him, Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson has only kept out one of the last 22 spot kicks he’s faced in the competition.
- Liverpool’s Darwin Núñez was flagged offside five times in this match; the joint-most by a player in a Premier League game this season. Indeed, of the four instances of a player being offside as many as five times in a game in the competition since the start of last season, half of them have been by the Uruguayan (v Arsenal in October 2022 and Manchester City today).
- With Conor Bradley (20), Harvey Elliott (20) and Jarell Quansah (21) all starting, it was the first time Liverpool had named three players aged 21 or under in a Premier League starting XI against Manchester City since March 2015 (Raheem Sterling, Emre Can and Lazar Markovic).
Liverpool vs Manchester City Stats Centre
Our Opta match centre delivers you all of the Liverpool vs Manchester City stats from Sunday’s Premier League clash at Anfield.
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 post-match analysis of the game.
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