Liverpool 1-1 Man City epitomises one-sided Klopp, Pep ‘rivalry’ as Reds give their all yet fall short

That might be the last time we see Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp go head-to-head in England, and if it was, it was a fitting conclusion to their individual rivalry, but this title race is going to the wire and the Liverpool boss has to make it look less one-sided by bringing the Premier League trophy back to Anfield.

A lot of the build-up to Sunday’s match at Anfield was about Klopp vs Pep and the historic rivalry between Liverpool and Manchester City after years of fighting for all of the titles. We have seen many a classic between them and the standard of football is incomparable to other rivalries in Premier League history, but it simply can not be regarded as the best. It has been too one-sided.

City might have found all but one trip to Anfield excruciatingly difficult in the Guardiola era and that is because Klopp has made the stadium a cauldron and built a pretty decent squad, which certainly helps. But to have won the Premier League just once in the last five years means this has all been pretty uncompetitive.

Imagine two boxers at their absolute peak fighting five times and one winning 80 per cent of the fights, there would not be a debate about who the significantly better fighter is. That being said, there are not many people who have watched football over the past five years that truly believe Liverpool have been the superior of the two, but it is abundantly clear that this ‘rivalry’ is not what Jamie Carragher and others have made it out to be.

There is a very good chance that Liverpool pip City to the title this season. There is only one point separating them in the table and both league games ended as a draw, with the second of the two producing a tantalising match that was on a knife-edge for the entire 90 minutes plus stoppage time, and it ended up doing a decent job to summarise the rivalry between these two clubs and managers, with Liverpool giving it their all but it not being quite enough to better City and Guardiola.

City started the match significantly better than their hosts and there was genuine worry that Liverpool’s injuries would finally catch up with them. Caoimhin Kelleher was a busy boy in the opening exchanges, denying Julian Alvarez and Kevin De Bruyne, while Virgil van Dijk was completing logic-defying tackles in his own box to keep out Phil Foden.

Liverpool managed to grow into the match quickly. They were gaining confidence and had the ball in the net after Luis Diaz converted Darwin Nunez’s assist, but the latter was offside. Just as the Reds looked like they were beginning to overpower their visitors, they conceded. City and Guardiola showed set-piece demons Arsenal that they have a few tricks up their sleeves as John Stones converted De Bruyne’s corner from a yard out, squeezing it through Kelleher.

The highlight of the opening 45 minutes was undoubtedly the one-on-one between Erling Haaland and Virgil van Dijk. The City striker was running at the Liverpool captain at speed in a moment where time stood still, reminiscent of two WWE superstars facing off during the Royal Rumble when all of the other wrestlers are conveniently laying on the ground around them.

That moment ended with a simple save for Kelleher, but it was pretty bloody exciting!

Diaz was Liverpool’s best player on Sunday and looked dangerous in the first half before stepping things up in the second, suggesting he has a bottomless well of energy. He was doing things to Rodri and Kyle Walker that we see once in a blue moon, making the former eat grass and putting the latter in a spin cycle during a scintillating dribble from close to his own box to winning a corner at the other end of the pitch.

Before that, there was the small matter of Liverpool’s equaliser. Nathan Ake sold Ederson short and Nunez’s blistering pace meant he got to the ball before the Cityzens’ goalkeeper, who absolutely clattered the striker and ultimately had to be substituted as a result of the challenge. That could have a big effect on the title race. Stefan Ortega is a fine replacement, but he is not on the same level as Ederson. But hey, Liverpool have barely missed a beat with Kelleher in for Alisson.

Alexis Mac Allister expertly converted the spot-kick in the 50th minute and Liverpool were level. That is how it finished but there was plenty of action. Kelleher punched a cross into Phil Foden, with the ricochet striking the crossbar, a minute before Ortega almost did an Aaron Ramsdale. And then of course Diaz’s aforementioned run, which he had a few of in the second 45.

All of that hard work from Liverpool was almost undone by Jeremy Doku in the 89th minute, striking the inside of the post as the ball fell perfectly into Kelleher’s arms. The Belgian was then a little bit lucky not to give away a penalty deep into stoppage time. That would have been very interesting.

It was an outstanding performance from Liverpool, who have been outstanding under Klopp, who is one of the greatest managers in the club’s history and has contributed towards one hell of a rivalry – a friendly one at that – between himself and Guardiola.

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The title race remains in the balance after the points were shared at Anfield and from table-topping Arsenal’s point of view, no result would have been seen as a major blow to their title hopes.

Obviously, a Liverpool win would have knocked them off top but as they are fully aware after last season, being top at any point before having the trophy in your possession is pretty insignificant. Should the Reds have won, the favourites for the title would have taken a massive hit and perhaps would have left Pep Guardiola’s men a little vulnerable for the Gunners’ visit to the Etihad in a fortnight.

A Manchester City win would have left things in Mikel Arteta’s hands as they have that trip to Manchester coming up. A draw will feel pretty sweet for the team ending the weekend top of the tree, though.

Liverpool will watch that encounter with intrigue like Arsenal did on Sunday and they will likely be hoping for a Gunners victory, even if that extends their lead on top. You would still fancy Manchester City if that result does come to fruition, while the belief that Arsenal will bottle it will always exist unless it becomes mathematically impossible.

Despite Arsenal’s current position, you have to feel like they remain the third favourites in the Premier League title race. You also get the impression that the broadcasters want that to be the case. The Klopp vs Pep narrative is too appealing, especially when the German is dipping to never be seen again in England at the end of the campaign.

All of the talk about City overpowering Liverpool will go down the tube if the former gets relegated to the Vanarama North and all of their titles are stripped as a result of those sodding charges. Then we will be looking at Klopp as a three-time Premier League champion. But Manchester United will also be crowned 2017/18 Premier League winners and that is obviously too much.

Either way, that was one hell of a game and we have been blessed to see two of the best English sides and managers of all time in Our League at the same time.

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