Man City – Liverpool: Efficiency is the ultimate truth

09/11/2025 11:05:00 soccer

Both Manchester City and Liverpool have re-entered the Premier League title contention following their recent strange displays.

Man City controlled only 48% of the ball to defeat Bournemouth last weekend and 50% when beating Borussia Dortmund. Liverpool, with 36% possession, comfortably surpassed Real Madrid by generating 25 shots, 2.5 times that of their opponent. Last season, they had 63% possession but only 23 shots towards Courtois’s goal.

Simplification and modernization

Perhaps neither team has yet reached their optimal playing structure and stability. However, they have learned to correct mistakes, demonstrated adaptability, and achieved maximum efficiency. The players themselves benefit from these positive changes, which bodes well for the upcoming clash between the two teams at Etihad this weekend.

Overall, both Man City and Liverpool have adapted to the current trend in English football: becoming simpler, more direct, and quicker in transitions. This change is not due to crises forcing them to alter their identities but because opponents have grown smarter, breaking down the playing styles of Pep Guardiola and Arne Slot.

Initially, after losing to Brentford, Slot realized how opponents were stifling his team’s build-up play. Most tightly marked the champions’ midfielders. He also noticed that defenders like Conor Bradley or previously Frimpong could not make early passes as effectively as Alexander-Arnold.

The 47-year-old coach’s solution was to adjust the formation to make the left-back the main attacking outlet, position the right-back higher and wider, while Salah operated on the inside flank as a secondary winger, slightly modified to suit Bradley’s strengths in off-the-ball movement and ball retention. This brought maximum effectiveness.

Against Real Madrid, Liverpool further simplified their tactics. 13.6% of their passes were long balls, the second highest rate this season after the win over Arsenal (13.8%).

Bradley completed 6 long passes facing Vinicius, a personal record in a Premier League or Champions League match under Slot. He also made his first two attacking switches in the final third of the pitch.

Both Man City and Liverpool aim for simplicity to secure victories

Though this number may not be as high as what The Kop achieved with Arnold, creating such scenarios simplifies the tasks for all players. It also highlights the club’s strength in off-the-ball movement, freeing Van Dijk and Konate from risky ball possession, while the midfield avoids being exposed as Florian Wirtz is pushed too far forward.

Maximum efficiency

Pep Guardiola said that this high pressing style, consistent from start to finish, made his team play like basketball. Structurally, Man City still struggles defensively but have become more solid as Guardiola places his most talented midfielders centrally to overcome pressure and counter opponents’ direct play.

Playing more proactively without the ball is Man City’s way to neutralize opponents’ strengths, eliminate unresolved instabilities, and help attackers quickly get into scoring positions. So far, they have conceded only about 0.124 expected goals from counterattacks, compared to 0.212 last season.

For the 54-year-old coach, modern top-level football is no longer about fixed positions but focuses more on vertical transitions and counterattacks than in recent years. The Citizens have scored more goals from quick counterattacks this Premier League season than last (6 vs 3), starting with Guardiola designing this style for his players. Haaland averages more shots per 90 minutes than previous seasons at 4.35, with shots on target increasing to 2.12 from 1.86 last season.

The number of passes allowed per defensive sequence has dropped from 19.7 to 11.5. On average, they have only 4.7 passes per possession recently. Currently, about 8.9% of Man City’s passes are long balls and 3.60% are long goal kicks, both the highest rates in Guardiola’s era.

What few expect is that the Spanish tactician is willing to change the foundations that brought past success in order to win. This makes the match against Liverpool even more exciting, as their opponents approach the game with a similarly fundamental nature.

Nhat Minh

Comment (0)