Trent Alexander-Arnold’s comments caused a stir before Liverpool vs Manchester City. In the end, Pep Guardiola proved exactly why he was right all along.
He was never going to be on the pitch, but Trent Alexander-Arnold still managed to become the main talking point ahead of Liverpool’s clash with Manchester City.
His theory that Liverpool’s trophies over recent years have meant more to the Reds than City’s have for the Etihad club certainly got the defending champions riled up. Erling Haaland was first to bite back, followed by Rúben Dias, and Pep Guardiola’s blunt response in his pre-match press conference spoke volumes, even if he didn’t.
Kyle Walker was more forward, revealing that Alexander-Arnold had been the talk of the City dressing room in the build-up. You might have therefore expected a fired-up side arriving at Anfield, looking to land a telling blow in the title race.
Instead, what we saw was a side that slowly wilted under the pressure applied by the Reds. By the end of the game, there would have been one team a lot happier with the point, and that certainly wasn’t Liverpool.
Alexis Mac Allister’s reaction after scoring his penalty told you as much. The Argentine began to celebrate before abruptly turning back towards the goal to pick the ball up and run back to the center circle. Clearly, the Reds knew how big this game was, and they smelt blood.
For all his talk before the game, you’d have been forgiven for forgetting that Haaland was even on the pitch in the second half. As many will no doubt be saying on social media this evening, the Norwegian spent much of the game firmly in Virgil van Dijk’s pocket.
Meanwhile, there seemed to be more infighting from City rather than battling what was put in front of them. Kevin De Bruyne rather uncharacteristically launched into a tirade at his manager after being substituted in the second half, with Guardiola spending a long time trying to explain his decision to his star player.
But while the camera was trained on that pair, elsewhere on the bench was yet more evidence of Alexander-Arnold’s comments being absolutely spot on. With his side now firmly second best in the match, Guardiola chose to ignore Joško Gvardiol and Matheus Nunes.
Both were big-money signings last summer, costing around $165m (£128m/€151m) in total. Yet, in the biggest game of the season so far, they were clearly considered surplus to requirements.
You can see why Alexander-Arnold thinks the finances involved in the two clubs results in success meaning more to Liverpool. How can it not? After all, the Reds had three of their four summer signings out on the pitch, and they still cost less in total than two of City’s unused substitutes. We haven’t even addressed the elephant in the room — or rather, the 115 elephants.
Liverpool has been battling against this outrageous spending for years now, and yet has managed to keep pace with City, and showed today it’s fully capable of beating it to another title. Even without Alexander-Arnold on the pitch, Mac Allister and co showed exactly what that would mean.
