Liverpool couldn't beat Man City at Anfield despite a spectacular strike from Dominik Szoboszlai. This is what we spotted as Florian Wirtz also impressed in the Premier League game
18:34, 08 Feb 2026Updated 18:51, 08 Feb 2026
Marc Guehi and Mohamed Salah during the Premier League match between Liverpool and Manchester City.
Marc Guehi and Mohamed Salah during the Premier League match between Liverpool and Manchester City.(Image: Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)
ANFIELD, LIVERPOOL // Whoever it is that goes on to win the Premier League title this season — and it could still be either Manchester City or Arsenal on this evidence — Dominik Szoboszlai will have scored the same goal against that team.
Despite that, though, Liverpool couldn't get over the line for what would have been a vital three points, and the Hungarian was sent off controversially to further compound matters for Arne Slot. While it might be the letter of the law, it was a bizarre VAR decision that no one wanted with the ball in the back of the net. Fortunately for Manchester City, it won the points regardless.
After a first half that had seen the visitors move into the ascendancy, but without creating that much in the way of clear-cut opportunities to trouble Alisson Becker, second half, it was Liverpool who looked the most likely, with Hugo Ekitike and Florian Wirtz going close.
Szoboszlai then stepped up to deliver a goal worthy of winning any game — only for Bernardo Silva to level and Erling Haaland to net a late double. Here are the five things Liverpool.com spotted as the game unfolded.
READ MORE: Liverpool vs Man City LIVE: Reds suffer defeat, Szoboszlai sees red, post-match reactionREAD MORE: Habib Beye gives 'serious' injury update on Jeremy Jacquet after Liverpool defender forced off
Pep Guardiola's Anfield wait over
Pep Guardiola has only ever won once at Anfield before and that came without a crowd (a 1-4 victory in 2021). Amid speculation that this could be his final few months with Manchester City, did he just achieve it with his last chance to change the record?
For those who are keeping track, this is at least the third season in which speculation has been rife that Guardiola could depart, so it shouldn't be taken as anything close to a given. It is, though, a possibility.
In some ways, this was an encapsulation of the rivalry: even with neither team at their best, it still felt like a big occasion and a big game. Guardiola's wait for a win in L4 with fans present is over and his side has done a league double over Liverpool for the first time since 1937. Six points the gap to Arsenal remains.
Marc Guehi and Antoine Semenyo important
Marc Guehi was minutes away from becoming a Liverpool player on September 1, when Crystal Palace pulled the plug on a $47 million (£35 million) deal at the last second. A few months later, the Reds pivoted to Jeremy Jacquet.
Here, as a result, Guehi was lining up as an opposition player once again, having done so plenty of times for Crystal Palace, with some extra loud jeers reserved for his touches.
Antoine Semenyo was another who — inevitably given his Premier League scoring exploits for Bournemouth — Liverpool was keeping an eye on. It was Manchester City that made a decisive move, though, snapping him up for around $85 million (£62 million).
The pair showed why Liverpool was keen and also why Guardiola made a move, having seamlessly slotted into the Manchester City team. Milos Kerkez dealt well with Semenyo, but both will prove to be astute additions.
Guehi just about let go of Mohamed Salah in time to avoid giving away a penalty and Semenyo showed glimpses but nothing more. They each played their part, with others taking center stage.
Florian Wirtz does well
When Liverpool faced Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium earlier this season, Gary Neville, commentating for Sky Sports on that occasion, said Florian Wirtz had been "mauled" and looked like a "little boy".
It is safe to say that the German playmaker has come a long way since then. His confidence certainly has improved, as shown by the backheeled flick that he pulled off to find Mohamed Salah.
Wirtz ran and ran — his work in the gym is clearly paying off — and he showed his quality when he had the chance. He just needed a bit more from those around him.
The German was quietly very good here, creating things and doing his job well. Unfortunately, he was too often working alone. With those around him, not least Hugo Ekitike and Mohamed Salah misfiring, he had too much to do.
Midfield gaps costly
Erling Haaland was kept under wraps in the main and Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate did pretty well at the back. However, it was in the center where Liverpool had issues in the first half.
There was too much space for Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch to cover in the middle of the field and they were being dragged around by the likes of Rodri and Bernardo Silva.
Wirtz did his best to help out but Mohamed Salah wasn't tucking in all that much and Manchester City was able to thread balls through the middle far too easily.
This was no Guardiola or Pep Lijnders masterstroke, but a problem essentially of Liverpool's own making. With Dominik Szoboszlai at right-back, perhaps you could make the argument he was missed elsewhere. Really, the Reds just needed an extra man in there.
Second half, things changed. Then, though, came the silly mistakes. Alisson gave away a penalty and then Szoboszlai simply didn't need to foul his man, even if it was a strange decision to rule out the goal. Liverpool wasn't set up well and then penalized itself when that changed.
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Premier League state of play
There were those — mainly on social media, of course — that downplayed the importance of this game. It was not a title bout, as has often been the case in the last few years, but vital nonetheless.
A Manchester City win keeps the Premier League title race alive; anything other than that would have all but handed it to Arsenal. More pressingly for Arne Slot and his players, with both Manchester United and Chelsea having won this weekend already, it was up to Liverpool not to further get left behind.
Having gone a goal in front, Liverpool should have been able to hold on. Manchester City showed its title fight, though, is far from over. Now without Szoboszlai through suspension for the trip to Sunderland, it will need to bounce back.