Liverpool deserved to lose because Man City harried them into so many basic mistakes

ETIHAD STADIUM — There can be something dissatisfying about a draw in a high-profile league fixture.

Perhaps that subconsciously reflects a shift towards extremism of opinion in the media – a draw disallows the hot take. Perhaps it suggests that the players have settled in some way, chickened out of the showdown last round.

More likely is that it leaves us a little short. We rush to watch these games because they purport to tell us which of the best are the very best. A draw postpones the answer.

But not here. If Liverpool probably did settle for a point in the final 10 minutes, when it was Manchester City who hurried forward with the greater urgency, for the previous 80 these titanic title challengers wrestled with each other in a state of glorious chaos.

Some high-profile league fixtures are chess matches. This was Kerplunk mixed with Operation: all bangs and whistles and moving parts and steady hands and whoops and cries and Ederson rolling the ball casually along his own goal line, which deserves a category all of its own.

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We hardly need deep statistical analysis to determine why this was such a wonderful football match – the best two sets of players in the league and the best two managers too – but the principle reason for its super-high entertainment level lay in the determination of both teams to play the best version of their style rather than compromising on that style to counteract the strength of the opponent.

The only thing Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola respect more than each other – there was a comically exaggerated bear hug at full-time – is their own style of getting things done.

When was the last time Liverpool made this many mistakes in a match and so many different types of error? They were guilty of meek headers that invited pressure. They were repeatedly hassled and mugged by Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva in midfield. They occasionally knocked the ball more direct but overhit their passes. They failed to hold the ball up in the final third of the pitch. And they were caught out in the full-back areas. Boy were they caught out.

Klopp has repeatedly scoffed at suggestions that Trent Alexander-Arnold has defensive frailties. And, in most games, they are not relevant because his attacking contributions far outweigh any concerns and because opposition teams rarely commit so many players forward against Liverpool. Manchester City are not most teams.

Guardiola’s strategy appeared to be to pass the ball slowly from side to side in their own half. All the while, one or both of the full-backs crept forward like thieves in the night. Eventually, when they reach their position, a diagonal ball is chipped over the top for one of those full-backs to control it on their chest and survey the lie of the land.

Liverpool will therefore consider this to be a victory of sorts. They made those mistakes but survived. They deserved to lose on the balance of play, an ultra-tight offside call and a series of squandered opportunities costing their opponents.

They also became the first team in the Premier League this season to take points off Manchester City after they had gone ahead, another perfect statistic ruined. To do it once is unusual; twice is vaguely unthinkable.

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Those comebacks were fuelled by the belief that they can hurt City with the same press that can leave them a little exposed when it is bypassed. They caught Guardiola’s team napping at the start of the second half and they remained a latent threat with their own runs beyond the line, this time using the wide forwards. Judge City’s panic by the number of recovery runs Kyle Walker makes – there were plenty.

But if Liverpool will consider a 2-2 draw as a form of victory, it is potentially more significant for Manchester City. They maintain their one-point lead at the top, and both Klopp and Guardiola believe the other will win each of their remaining games. That would make it a rerun of 2018-19 – for 98 vs 97, make it 95 vs 94.

They also dominated the chances, the possession and the territory. They forced Liverpool into a culture of cynical fouls, with Virgil van Dijk even flustered enough to hack Kevin De Bruyne from behind. There will be frustration at the ceded leads but, ultimately, City retain the power in a fight when power is everything.

The answer, on who really is the best now, is postponed. But rather than frustrate us, we should welcome the postponement. These two clubs will meet in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley. They may meet in Paris in the Champions League final. They have been drawn together in destiny. Who wants to hear the conclusion at the end of act one anyway?

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