City's siege mentality wins at Anfield

Manchester City's "siege mentality" prevailed at Anfield as they ran out 3-0 winners over Liverpool on Sunday, with the classy performance of Elliot Anderson summing up everything good about City in the contest.

Their quality with a man over told, if not quite so obvious when both sides had a full complement of players for an hour of the game. Not for the first time since his mega-money move from Nottingham Forest, Anderson's mastery on the ball was matched by his maturity off it. A "bargain" at £116m, according to Jamie Carragher, the midfielder is every bit capable, in his own way, of exerting as much control and influence on games as Rodri did in this role.

"He dominates big games," said Gary Neville. Rarely fazed by the occasion, Anderson has now won at Anfield two years running — with two different sides. Of course the way Forest went about success last term shared few similarities with City's more technical display; the only common denominator was Elliot Anderson.

While the spotlight shines ever brighter on City as a club, and forensics pour over their spending, Anderson remains the picture of calm — everything a manager would want in a modern-day holding midfielder: a robust runner, aggressive tackler and clever distributor.

Wirtz struggles on the big occasion again

For Liverpool, the afternoon was defined by the continued struggles of Florian Wirtz. The Germany international played his part with the pressing and the constant movement that was a hallmark of Liverpool's up-tempo approach that made life so difficult for Manchester City for an hour at Anfield. But that bit of magic the supporters wanted was missing.

Rayan Cherki provided that spark for City's third and final goal, by which point Wirtz was sat on the Liverpool bench having been substituted. Another big game in which the German was unable to provide the spark for his side — too many loose touches and loose passes, one or two tackles shirked.

Victor Munoz and Lewis Koumas are easy for supporters to embrace with their bustling styles, but Wirtz is a player who glides across the turf and he needs end product to justify his role. There was one shot lashed wide with the game goalless and better options to his left. It is no goals for Wirtz this season — in the Premier League 2026-27 campaign he has 0 goals from five appearances — and just one in his last 16 Premier League appearances.

"Another opportunity missed for a classy player still seemingly unable to impose himself," wrote Adam Bate.