Andoni Iraola’s Liverpool lose 3-0 to Man City as Anfield fear fades

Liverpool’s Andoni Iraola tasted defeat at Anfield as Manchester City won 3-0, with the match swinging when Ryan Gravenberch was sent off in the 62nd minute. Iraola said after the game on Match of the Day that “we played two different games: one until the red card, and then after”, adding that City were better once the dismissal happened.

It ended Iraola’s Premier League unbeaten run: it was his first top-flight defeat in 24 matches (from January, W10 D13). Still, the Reds are now winless in three Premier League home games this season, and the league drought at Anfield stretches back to last term—five successive Premier League home matches without a win (from those, D4 L1).

Cutting edge missing

The scoring picture is part of the issue. Liverpool have scored seven league goals so far, with only two of them coming at Anfield. This season, they’ve failed to score in two of their three Anfield league games. With injuries keeping Alexander Isak, Cody Gakpo and Dominik Szoboszlai out, the side struggled to turn pressure into chances, and City’s attacking output proved decisive (City have 16 league goals to Liverpool’s 7). Iraola summed it up saying: “It’s a loss and we didn’t get anything from the performance, but I liked it a lot.”