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3 things we learned from Liverpool 4-3 Manchester City

A few takeaways from City’s first league defeat of the season.

Liverpool v Manchester City - Premier League Photo by John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images

1 - Kevin De Bruyne needs David Silva

With David Silva on the bench, the majority of the playmaking responsibility fell to Kevin De Bruyne and while the Belgian floursihed, it meant a large part of City’s play came down the right. The right flank was being manned by Raheem Sterling who was having a torrid time of it, while Leroy Sané was almost anonymous on the left flank.

Manchester City needed Silva’s creativity on the left side to really stretch the Liverpool backline and create more opportunities.

2 - Sergio Agüero needs to find his form quickly

With Gabriel Jesus out, now is not the time for a prolonged dip in form and the Argentine was again ineffective in this game. Rarely seeing the ball, Agüero was forced to drop deeper and deeper to be involved with play. Of course, this was also down to the good defensive work of Liverpool but when Agüero did get the ball he did little with it.

His worst moment came towards the end where City were searching for an equalizer only to see Agüero blaze a long range shot over rather than finding a teammate. Please get better, Sergio. Fast.

3 - One defeat isn’t the end of the world

An invincible season was always unlikely and Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool were the biggest threat to City with their pace and high pressing, so this result is not a complete surprise. The important thing for Pep Guardiola is to not let a slip in form creep in. Like we saw in the aftermath of the Crystal Palace result, City must look to put this behind them as quickly as possible and luckily for them some very winnable games sit on the horizon.