Premier League Notes - Week 6

Sports - Football - Premier League - Week 6

The sixth week of the 2019-2020 Premier League season saw:

31 goals - most by Man City = 8

258 shots - most by Man City = 28

91 on target - most by Man City = 11

98 corners - most by Everton = 12

202 fouls - most by Leicester = 16

38 bookings - most by Arsenal = 5

2 red cards - Saïss for Wolves, Maitland-Niles for Arsenal

3 penalties - 3 scored (Ward-Prowse for Saints, Agüero for City, Pépé for Arsenal)

#SOUBOU

Saints were all over the place on Friday night, unable to cope with the Cherries, hence, two goals down at the interval. And just when it looked like the hosts were getting back into the game after the break (creating 25 shots!), things went from bad to worse to embarrassing! Stoppage time drama saw a brilliant save by Aaron Ramsdale at the one end, keeping the score at 1-2, followed by a comedy error at the other, Angus Gunn and Jan Bednarek producing You've Been Framed material, a present for Callum Wilson to make it 1-3 with the last kick of the game and three points for the visitors, their first ever win at St Mary's! Eddie Howe's side have won four of their last eight away games in the Premier League, having had lost the previous nine in succession!

#LEITOT

The Foxes' comeback was full of ups and downs and controversies. VAR was cheered on and chanted by the fans after a goal was disallowed for offside, to Paulo Gazzaniga's relief after an embarrassing spill! LMAO! But eventually Spurs found a breakthrough, Son Heung-min with a cheeky back-foot pass on the edge of the box, finding Harry Kane, who was falling over like a stumbling drunk but somehow still got a shot away and in to give the visitors a weird but top quality lead (25'). VAR chalked another goal off, Serge Aurier with the finish, eventually disallowed, but this time it was soooooo close, millimetres! The French commentators were not happy! But off is off (more to that below)! Moments later, Ricardo Pereira had all the space in the world, no one near him in the box, easy equaliser (69'). After all the chances, poking and trying, VAR controversies, disallowed goals, the hosts pulled themselves back into the game. And James Maddison completed the perfect comeback, with a screamer to make it 2-1 (85')! Mauricio Pochettino's men have failed to win three consecutive Premier League games when they are leading at the break for the first time since March 2008. Since Brendan Rodgers took over at the King Power Stadium, only Manchester City and Liverpool have picked up more points. Top character. 

#BURNOR

After last week's surprise victory against the reigning champions, Norwich were on a high. But Chris Wood had better ideas, shooting the Canaries down with his brace, two goals in four minutes (10', 14'). Lethal. The 27-year old Kiwi opened the scoring with yet another header, his seventh since the start of last season, more than any other player has nodded in. Five of his last six league goals have been scored with his head, and four of those from corners. Nod on. 

#EVESHU

Everton scored an own goal to add to all their misery, opening the score for Sheffield United five minutes before the break at Goodison Park. The Toffees have now conceded 20 goals from set pieces since Marco Silva took over, more than any other Premier League team. It was a great counter to double the lead/agony, depending which side you're on. It completed the Blades' first PL away win in 13 years, despite the home side dominating and trying their best with over double the possession, eight times the shots and double on target. A reminder: The blue Merseysiders have spent £195 million on transfers (net) since June 2016, which makes them the fourth highest spenders in the English top tier. Their allocation of resources is one of the worst in the PL history! They are the highest spending club in WORLD football without a trophy with £954m splashed out since 1995. Mind. Blown. 

#MCIWAT

This was just ridiculous! The same side that created 31 shots in a great comeback to grab a point against Arsenal last week, just absolutely crashed and burned from kickoff at the Etihad. It was the fastest and biggest onslaught, David Silva finding the net first after just 52 seconds! 17 minutes later, it was already 5-0! I couldn't keep up with the Tweets! It's the fastest any side has ever gone 5-0 ahead in the Premier League and the biggest half-time lead. Bernardo Silva made it six, scoring his first ever PL brace, and netting in back to back home league games for the first time in his City career. And that was not all. It became the Portuguese's first ever top-flight hat-trick in what is his 178th appearance across the English, French and Portuguese top tiers. It was the first time for the Citizens to score eight in a single PL fixture. An absolute mauling. Watford's heaviest defeat ever in English league football. Outclassed. Gerard Deulofeu completed 13 out of his 14 passes - EIGHT of those coming from kickoff! Shocking.

#NEWBRI

There were lots of empty seats at St James' Park! The Seagulls dominated from start to finish with most of the possession! The Magpies only had 24.2% of the ball in the first half, not much more after the restart. A reminder of Steve Bruce's men's possession so far this season: 38% v Arsenal, 37% v Norwich, 20% v Spurs, 49% v Watford, 25% v Liverpool. WTF?! What are they on the pitch for?! To play football, no?! It was an absolute drag by Newcastle on Saturday night, waste by Brighton not to capitalize, the torture ended 0:0. Cheered sub Andy Carroll couldn't make the much needed difference on his return to Tyneside.

#CRYWOL

Leander Dendoncker's own goal was Crystal Palace's 100th goal in the Premier League under Roy Hodgson - the first time the Eagles have scored as many under one boss and they are the first club the former England boss has managed in the competition to reach this total. Centurions. Diogo Jota's last-breath equaliser from close range spoilt the party at Selhurst Park and nicked a point for ten-man Wolves, FIVE MINUTES in to stoppage time! 

#WHUMUN

How many times and weeks have I been writing it and will keep on writing it: Man Who?! The Hammers' dominance finally paid off when Andriy Yarmolenko made the breakthrough just before the break, squeezing the ball past David de Gea into the bottom corner (44'). The Red Devils have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last ELEVEN away matches in all competitions, their worst run since conceding in 14 consecutive matches between April and December 2002. It was a smacking free kick by Aaron Cresswell to make it 2-0 with under ten minutes to go, top corner, de Gea no chance. Manuel Pellegrini is the first manager to win against four different United managers in the Premier League: David Moyes, Luis van Gaal, José Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjær. Collection.

#ARSAST

What a comeback it was by the Gunners, first to come from behind being down to ten men, and then in what fashion! Two goals in four minutes, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's late winner was an absolute belter!!! That made it seven in seven this season for the Gabonese striker. The Villans are still pointless on the road, and despite a much improved performance Dean Smith's men haven't won any of their last five Premier League away games when scoring first (D1 L4) and fall down to 18th, whilst the Gunners fly high back up to fourth. 

#CHELIV

The Reds bossed the first half, the Blues the second. Jürgen Klopp's men are the first team in top-flight history to win their opening six matches of a top-flight season in two consecutive seasons. Pacesetters, five points clear at the top. The contrast in commentating was surreal! Martin Tyler sounded very bored, whilst the French and American commentators went mad! No wonder, all three goals were top quality and the end was tense! The VAR arguments are getting more and more ridiculous! As mentioned above, close, yes, cruel, maybe, but off is off! (I loved Graeme Souness' quote on those close calls: "You cannot be nearly pregnant!") And with or without VAR, there will always be missed incidents and mess-ups, it is still humans behind the screens (and in front of them)! Nobody's perfect. But there should be a system where they get punished or there should be some consequences for anything missed or messed up, because every call, every goal, every point is oh so crucial! But hey, that would probably take another 20 years for the FA to work it out! Behind every other country and every other sport! Pf! No wonder it's winding everyone up!

My Predictions - Actual Results

Southampton 1:1 Bournemouth - 1:3

Leicester 1:1 Tottenham - 2:1

Burnley 2:2 Norwich - 2:0

Everton 1:1 Sheffield United - 0:2

Man City 2:1 Watford - 8:0

Newcastle 1:0 Brighton - 0:0

Crystal Palace 1:0 Wolves - 1:1

West Ham 2:2 Man United - 2:0

Arsenal 3:1 Aston Villa - 3:2 

Chelsea 2:3 Liverpool - 1:2

Click here for last week's Premier League Notes.

All pictures, facts and stats were taken from the BBC match reports, Twitter, Sky Sports and RMC Sport coverage.

Premier League Notes - Week 3

Sports - Football - Premier League - Week 3

The third week of the 2019-2020 Premier League season saw: 

30 goals - most by CHE/WHU/LIV/MCI = 3 each

284 shots - most by Liverpool = 25

79 on target - most by West Ham = 10

101 corners - most by CHE/BRI/MUN/WAT = 8 each

199 fouls - most by CRY/EVE = 18 each

33 bookings - most by Crystal Palace = 4

1 red card - Andone for Brighton

4 penalties - 3 scored (Noble for West Ham, Salah for Liverpool, Jiménez for Wolves)

#ASTEVE

It was a miserable Friday night for Marco Silva and his men. Goals from club record £22m signing Wesley and Anwar El Ghazi lifted Dean Smith's side up to 11th in the table and gave Aston Villa their first win in the top flight since February 2016. Everton have failed to come from behind at the interval to win a Premier League game since September 2015 at West Brom (W0 D5 L33 since), suffering only their third league defeat in their past 14 matches in the competition (W7 D4 L3).

#NORCHE

Frank Lampard’s first win came with Chelsea’s youngest starting line-up in the Premier League since February 1994. But Norwich didn’t make it easy for them at Carrow Road, equalising twice, despite all the visitors’ dominance! Tammy Abraham is the youngest Blues player to score a Premier League brace since Mark Nicholls in January 1998, helping his side to the three points.

#BRISOU

Brighton's sending off came from what looked like a career ending tackle! Florian Andone was shown a straight red card on the half-hour mark following a high, rash challenge on Saints defender Yan Valery. Albion manager Graham Potter said he "can't defend" the Romanian’s challenge. The Seagulls were out of the game after that, unable to form much opposition nor competition. Southampton's opening goal was a stunner! Moussa Djenepo broke the deadlock with a fine strike moments after coming on as a second-half substitute. Another super sub!

#MUNCRY

Man Who? Crystal Palace pounced, making all the home side’s dominance count for zero. Daniel James thought he had rescued a point for the home side in the final minute of normal time. But full-back Patrick van Aanholt netted in the 93rd minute equaliser off Wilfried Zaha's burst forward, becoming only the second player to score a 90th-minute winner against United in the Premier League after Thierry Henry for Arsenal in January 2007, and the first to do so at Old Trafford. Roy Hodgson’s men like to travel, 60% of their points last season came on the road. This was their first victory at the famous Manchester ground since 1989, making Marcus Rashford rue his missed spot kick earlier in the second half - deja vue for the Red Devils after Paul Pogba’s missed penalty last week. Manchester United have won only one of their past nine matches, scoring just eight goals and conceding 16. Ole’s at the wheel...

#SHULEI

Super subs at Sheffield United as well: Harvey Barnes snatched the winner from the edge of the box six minutes after coming on, recording the Foxes’ first league win of the season and Chris Wilder's side only their second defeat in 21 matches. Former Wednesday player and boo man Jamie Vardy had given Leicester the lead at Bramall Lane, before club record signing Oliver McBurnie headed in the equaliser for the home side and the sub's heart-breaker. 

#WATWHU

There was a penalty within the opening couple of minutes at Watford! Like Aston Villa conceded last week, making the mountain too high to climb straight away. West Ham pounced and won comfortable thanks to the spot kick and record signing Sébastian Haller’s brace. Despite all the chances and effort, it’s been a miserable start for the Hornets, three defeats out of three games. Javi Gracia's side, who sit bottom of the table, have now lost seven successive games in all competitions for the first time since 1999.

#LIVARS

Liverpool recorded their 12th consecutive Premier League win, equalling their best sequence in the top flight under Sir Kenny Dalglish between April and October 1990. Mohamed Salah has been involved in 77 goals in 77 games, 57 goals and 20 assists. It was a comfortable home win against Arsenal, Joël Matip with the opening header before the great Egyptian added his brace, helped by David Luiz’s idiotic foul in the box, pulling him down by the shirt and handing the Reds a penalty. And then Mo embarrassed the former blue again out on the touchline at the start of a dazzling run that ended with a low, curling finish into the bottom corner just before the hour. Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has faced Arsenal eight times without defeat in the Premier League (W5 D3). Vielen Dank!

#BOUMCI

Manchester City cruised to a win at Bournemouth, no shocks or surprises there. David Silva starred in his 400th appearance for the club, contributing to all three goals = Sergio Agüero’s brace taking him to 400 goals for club and country, 235 of them for City, and Raheem Sterling’s poke in. The Cherries, who drop to 10th place, continued a miserable run against the Citizens, that has seen them concede 28 times in their last nine league meetings. Pep Guardiola's side has won all nine of their top-flight games against Bournemouth - the best 100% win record by a team over an opponent in top-flight history.

#TOTNEW

Club record £40m signing Joelinton with his first Newcastle goal served Steve Bruce his first points as Magpies manager, stunning Tottenham at Wembley. The Brazilian striker took advantage of sleepy defending to control substitute Christian Atsu's pass beautifully before drilling past Hugo Lloris. Spurs lacked the creativity to break down a resolute Newcastle side, whose four-man midfield kept sitting deep in front of a back five. Bruce hopes Newcastle win "will shut a few people up". Tell that the fans who have travelled more than 1,000 miles over the past two weekends. But hey, they definitely weren't complaining on their way back from London this time!

#WOLBUR

Raúl Jiménez's penalty in the 97th minute was the latest ever Premier League goal by Wolves, just their second shot on target in the game, grabbing his side a point against Burnley. Ashley Barnes looked to have won it for the Clarets after pouncing from around 25 yards - his fourth goal in three Premier League games this season - against a disjointed Wolves side playing their third game inside a week. Nuno Espírito Sante's side has drawn their first three games of a league campaign for the first time since 1938-39, when they finished second in the top flight. Good omen? The Wanderers are unbeaten in their last 10 home games in the Premier League (W6 D4); their longest run without defeat in the top flight since April to October 1979 (also 10 games). Brilliant run!

So, Liverpool, Aston Villa and Wolves were the only three home sides not to suffer defeat! #HomeSweetHome

My Predictions - Actual Results

Aston Villa 1:2 Everton - 2:0

Norwich 1:1 Chelsea - 2:3

Brighton 2:2 Southampton - 0:2

Man United 2:0 Crystal Palace - 1:2

Sheff United 1:1 Leicester - 1:2

Watford 0:0 West Ham - 1:3

Liverpool 4:2 Arsenal - 3:1

Bournemouth 0:4 Man City - 1:3

Tottenham 2:1 Newcastle - 0:1

Wolves 2:2 Burnley - 1:1

Click here for last week’s Premier League Notes.

All pictures, facts and stats were taken from the BBC match reports, Sky Sports and RMC Sport live coverage.

Premier League Picks Of The Week 24

Sports - Football - Premier League - Week 24

The 24th week of the Premier League action saw:

25 goals - most by Chelsea & Arsenal = 4 each
233 shots - most by Man City & Liverpool = 21 each
90 on target - most by Arsenal & Chelsea = 10 each
99 corners - most by Man City = 18
194 fouls - most by Stoke City = 18
26 yellow cards - most by Brighton, Burnley, Man United, West Ham & Tottenham = 3 each
0 red cards
2 penalties - 2 scored (Agüero for Man City, Vardy for Leicester)

What a game! Arsenal proved like Liverpool did last week, it's all about the team, not the player, life goes on without them. With Alexis Sánchez omitted and Manchester United bound, the Gunners hit four goals in the opening 22 minutes, absolutely stunning and thrashing Crystal Palace 4-1 at the Emirates. A free Nacho Monreal headed in the opener (6') and provided the next two, Alex Iwobi doubling the lead (10') and Laurent Koscielny tapping in the third (13'). Alexandre Lacazette made it four with a beautiful team goal and finish (22') to complete an abysmal start for Roy Hodgson's side. Luka Milivojević did pull one back late on with a nice turn and shot, denying Petr Čech his 200th clean sheet, keeping the stopper stuck on 199. It was Palace's only defeat in the last 12 league games against the Gunners. Arsène Wenger couldn't have been happier with his team's blistering display, but they won't have it that easy every week!

What a team! Manchester City recovered from their first league defeat of the season against Liverpool with a dominant 3-1 win against Newcastle at the Etihad, Sergio Agüero starring with a hat-trick, his 11th for Pep Guardiola's side. Jacob Murphy did cause a little scare when he made it 2-1 with his first goal for the club in his 19th appearance. Rafael Benítez praised his side's reaction and effort, but after only six goals in the last eight games, the Magpies are 15th in the table, just one point away from 18th-placed Southampton. With the takeover talks halted and off the table, the chances of adding to the squad are close to none. At the top of the table meanwhile, City's lead remains 12 points, which takes me to this interesting stat I read, which irritated me at the same time... City aren't Newcastle and United are nowhere near Fergie's greats, I dare say!!!
Here are my match notes of a very frustrating display and rare defeat for Liverpool, suffering against stubborn Swansea, losing 1-0 at the Liberty Stadium on Monday night, ending the Reds' unbeaten run after 18 games. It was such a disappointment after their breathtaking performance against the league leaders last week, but somewhat expected as the Reds like to let it slip against the lower sides, especially the Welsh side as past results show: Their German boss Jürgen Klopp seems to dislike the Swans, having lost three Premier League games against them, more than against any other opponent in the competition.

What a man! New Stoke City manager Paul Lambert started his reign with a win, his side beating Huddersfield 2-0 thanks to Joe Allen (53') and Mame Biram Diouf (69'), taking them out of the relegation zone, a step in the right direction. The new boss enjoyed and celebrated both goals full-heartedly and made sure all players stayed back to thank the fans for their support. The Terriers meanwhile are winless in the last six league games, having lost three in a row, David Wagner accepting their dire form and position and conceding they have to do more to get out of it, just one point separating them from the drop zone.
Leicester's Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez impressed with startling displays, the prior's penalty and the latter's smooth goal were enough to beat Watford, Marco Silva's side continuing their slump with just one win in the last 11 league matches. The dire run saw the Portuguese sacked on Sunday, the board blaming Everton's approach in November for it! Harsh!!! They quickly appointed a new boss later that day, Spaniard Javi Gracia, the 10th manager to work under the Pozzo family at Vicarage Road since 2012! Something tells me the 18-month contract won't be seen through at this rate! 7 of the bottom 12 have sacked their managers this season and I've got the feeling it's not gonna stay at that...
Both David Moyes and Sam Allardyce drew more frustrated figures this week, not happy men, both West Ham and Everton dropping two points drawing 1-1 against Bournemouth and West Brom respectively, home games they should have or were expected to win. None of the sides will be happy with dropping points. Again. But for the Hammers it continued their unbeaten run in the league (DWDWD), whilst the blue Merseysiders have been sliding a bit longer without a win (DDLLLD). It could have been worse for the Toffees if it would not have been for super-sub's Oumar Niasse's equaliser just 56 seconds after coming on. More to that game below. And the Hammers had Javier Hernández to thank for the point equalising 65 seconds after falling behind, their manager crying out for the former United man to stay. It was Eddie Howe's 100th league game in charge, the third youngest English manager to achieve this, at the age of 40 years and 52 days, the draw extending the Cherries' unbeaten run to five games (DWDWD).

What a goal! Chelsea stunned Brighton with two splendid goals in the opening six minutes at the Falmer Stadium. Eden Hazard opened the scoring with a neat finish from inside the box (3') and Willian doubled the score after some beautiful team and one-touch play in the buildup (6'). The Seagulls did fight back, Ezequiel Schelotto was denied a penalty after being brought down by keeper Willy Caballero who kept out former Citizen Tomer Hemed before Davy Pröpper headed against the post. Hazard sealed the win eventually (77') and Victor Moses added to the total late on to make it 0-4 and three points for the Blues (89'), their first league win in 2018. But as manager Antonio Conte pointed out, his side are unbeaten in 12 games now. Brighton boss Chris Hughton was right, the scoreline was harsh, but the visitors did make it very difficult.
In the only Super Sunday match Davinson Sánchez's awesome own goal put Southampton ahead at St Mary's, sliding and turning in Ryan Bertrand's low cross, before non-other than Harry Kane levelled the score for Tottenham, easy 99th Premier League goal for the England striker. Despite continuing their longest winless streak in nearly two decades, Saints will be happy with the point, the fans were great, Mauricio Pellegrino grateful but realistic (loved his electric chair metaphor about his position), whilst Spurs will be gutted to have dropped two points in the race for the top four.

What the hell?! All the best wishes went to Toffee James McCarthy of course after manager Big Sam confirmed his very nasty injury, a double-fracture! Albion Salomón Rondón was in tears after waving frantically for the referee to stop play and get the medical assistance. No one likes to see anything like that... #goosebumps
Manchester United extended their unbeaten run to eight games in the league, Anthony Martial's second-half strike enough to beat Burnley. But the Red Devils didn't give their fans much to cheer and watch, keeper David de Gea mainly to thank with his 14th clean sheet, more than any other in Europe's big five leagues this season. Sean Dyche's side fought hard, but were condemned to their fourth defeat on the trot for the first time since May 2015. The manager was understandably gutted as they were the only side making a real game out of it, no matter how José Mourinho tried to put it, having a clear dig at them after the match, complimenting the referee. Yep, you read right. The Portuguese was all positive, especially about the officials, of course, looking at the scoreline, but nothing else. Pf.

My Predictions - Actual Results
Brighton 1:1 Chelsea - 0:4
Arsenal 1:1 Crystal Palace - 4:1
Burnley 1:2 Man United - 0:1
Everton 2:1 West Brom - 1:1
Leicester 3:0 Watford - 2:0
Stoke City 2:2 Huddersfield - 2:0
West Ham 3:2 Bournemouth - 1:1
Man City 4:1 Newcastle - 3:1
Southampton 1:3 Tottenham - 1:1
Swansea 1:5 Liverpool - 1:0 or my match report

Click here for last week's Premier League Picks.

All pictures, facts and stats were taken from the BBC match reports, MOTD, Twitter and SFR coverage.

A Point & Goal Each In Etihad Thriller

Sports - Football - Premier League - MCFC 1:1 LFC

Manchester City and Liverpool fought out a pulsating draw at the Etihad, sharing a goal and point each in the race to stay in the top four for Champions League qualification.

It could have been 5-5 after end-to-end stuff, with plenty of talking points, errors, chances, misses, sitters, controversies, everything given by both sides and referee Michael Oliver not making many friends.

Click here to read my full ByTheMin live match coverage.

James Milner had given the visitors the lead from the spot not long after the interval after Roberto Firmino was brought down in the box by Gael Clichy with a high boot.

It was the Reds captain's 450th career league appearance, netting his seventh penalty in the Premier League this season, only Steven Gerrard has scored more for Liverpool in a Premier League season (= 10 in 2013/14).

But non-other than Sergio Agüero levelled the score, making no mistake of beating wrong-sided defender Ragnar Klavan to Kevin De Bruyne's nice cross in from the right, smashing in the equaliser with just over 20 minutes to go.

The Argentine striker has scored in each and every of his five Premier League home games for City against Liverpool.

The game finished just as frantic as it started, a mad first half full of chances missed.

Both keepers were kept busy and made some strong saves, Simon Mignolet denying Leroy Sane, David Silva and Raheem Sterling and Fernandinho missing golden chances, whilst Willy Caballero kept out a surprisingly attacking Joel Matip, Roberto Firmino and Adam Lallana at the other end.

Somehow it stayed goalless at the break, it was definitely the keepers' half.

Both De Bruyne and Agüero put chances wide late on, whilst Lallana missed the biggest sitter right in front of goal with just ten minutes to go.

But it was not to be for either side, the draw keeping City in third and Liverpool in fourth, giving Spurs some breathing apace in second, whilst United climb to fifth. Chelsea stay pretty comfy at the top.

The game was not perfect but great entertainment with a lot of pace, power, energy and chances. And it is a fair result after all the ifs and buts.

Liverpool have now recorded more points in ten games against the top six (20) than in ten games against the bottom six (19).

It was just as entertaining to watch both coaches in their technical areas, loud, active, very involved to say the least.

Both managers showed contrasting post-match reactions though, Reds boss Jürgen Klopp more disappointed with the result whilst Sky Blues' Pep Guardiola called it "one of the happiest days of his career".

The German won the previous five meetings between the two, including a penalty shootout, more than any other manager against the Spaniard, so, maybe that explains the different takes on the match.

Neither will like the international break disrupting their plans, Liverpool hosting Everton next whilst City will travel to Arsenal on April the 1st.

Man City Goal: Agüero 69'.

Liverpool Goal: Milner pen 51'.

Man City Team: 13 Caballero; 25 Fernandinho, 24 Stones, 30 Otamendi, 22 Clichy (booked 50'), 42 Yaya Toure (booked 22') (3 Sagna 65'), 19 Sane (6 Fernando 83'), 17 De Bruyne, 21 Silva (booked 52'), 7 Sterling, 10 Agüero. 4-1-4-1
Subs not used: 1 Bravo, 9 Nolito, 11 Kolarov, 72 Iheanacho, 75 A. Garcia.

Liverpool Team: 22 Mignolet, 2 Clyne, 32 Matip (booked 43'), 17 Klavan, 7 Milner, 23 Can, 5 Wijnaldum, 20 Lallana, 19 Mané (booked 88'), 10 Coutinho (27 Origi 73'), 11 Firmino (booked 16') (21 Lucas 89').
Subs not used: 1 Karius, 18 Moreno, 66 Alexander-Arnold, 58 Woodburn, 6 Lovren.

HT & FT Match Stats: MCFC-LFC
Score: 0-0 & 1-1
Possession: 55%-45% & 60%-40%
Shots: 4-8 & 13-13
On target: 1-2 & 3-4
Corners: 5-5 & 9-8
Fouls: 8-3 & 14-7
Bookings: 1-2 & 3-3

Referee: Michael Oliver
Man of the match: David Silva
Ground: Etihad Stadium
Attendance: 54,449

Click here for my previous LFC match report.

All pictures, facts and stats taken from the BBC match report and SFR live coverage.