EPL 2018-19, Round 8 Report: Liverpool-City Goalless Draw Allows Other Teams To Dream

For the first time since August 1986, a Liverpool-Manchester City match at Anfield ended in a goalless draw as defending champions happily take home a point from their most potent opponents on Sunday.

The draw thus left three teams – Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool – at the top of the English Premier League table on 20 points after the eighth round before the international break.

Liverpool, as in the past few fixtures, deployed their famed pressing game, but City absorbed the initial pressure thus allowing themselves to settle down for a possible a possible knock out punch in a tight title race.

That chance to floor Jurgen Klopp's Reds arrived late in the match when Virgil van Dijk conceded a penalty after committing a lunging tackle on substitute Leroy Sane. With four minutes to regulation time whistle, referee Martin Atkinson pointed towards the spot, but Riyad Mahrez could only send the ball flying above the bar to the jubilation of Anfield crowd.

Klopp gave Dejan Lovren his first league start of the season, even as regular three – Mo Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane – led the attack. In the midfield, James Milner, Jordan Henderson and Georginio Wijnaldum operated in front of a back four – Joe Gomez, Dejan Lovren, van Dijk and Andrew Robertson

Visitors also deployed a similar formation, but without mercurial Kevin de Bruyne, who's still not ready for a high octane match following his lengthy injury lay-off. The Belgian's absence proved detrimental to City's push for their first win in a very long, long time.

Pep Guardiola, having tasted three defeats in his previous three visits at Liverpool, opted to start with three mid-fielders in David Silva, Fernandinho and Bernado Silva, behind an attacking front-three of Raheem Sterling, Sergio Aguero and Mahrez. Benjamin Mendy returned to City line-up as one of the back four, along with Aymeric Laporte, Aymeric Laporte and Kyle Walker.

But the first real opportunity of the match was created by the visiting team in the 14th minute with former Liverpool player Sterling getting himself inside the crowded box with a fifty-fifty chance. His power shot was, however, blocked by a defender, resulting in City's first and the match's third corner.

Just before the half-hour mark, a hamstrung Miller was substituted by Naby Keita. Minutes earlier, Liverpool survived a seemingly self-destructive clearance, with the ball landing in front of Aguero just metres away from the goalmouth. But the Argentine was undone by an alert Lovren. City's cry for a penalty was rightly turned down by the referee as there was minimal physical contact.

After a slow start City enjoyed greater possession in the first half but could manage only one attempt, that too wide off the target as against Liverpool's two off-target attempts. Bernardo Silva became the first player to be booked for his late challenge on Salah in the 21st minute.

Ten minutes after the restart, Aguero became the second player to receive a yellow card for his late kick to Henderson. The Argentine, who's witnessed tumultuous times in the previous visits, cut a sorry figure even as Liverpool started the second half in a fiery pace, just like in the first half. He was replaced by Gabriel Jesus three minutes later.

In the 64th minute, Salah got first of his two good chances after a return pass from Gomez. But the Egyptian's left-footed attempt from the centre of the box was too tame and direct to trouble City goalie Ederson. Three minutes later, Robertson's delivery from just outside Liverpool box following a quick Alisson goal-kick found Salah in front of City goalmouth. Salah controlled the ball with a delicate first touch, but his shot flew over the bar even though Ederson was way off the line.

After a dull period, City got another chance in the 75th minute from a swift counter-attack. Bernando Silva released a perfect ball for Mahrez to the right, but the former Leicester player failed to beat Alisson to the near post. In the 84th minute, Fernandinho's outreaching forearm hit Sadio Mane on the neck which left the Liverpool player on the floor.

With minutes left in the match, Van Dijk conceded the penalty, which was wasted by Mahrez. That was his four missed from the spot in the last six attempts. In the 90th minute, Wijnaldum became the first Liverpool player to be booked.

The result allowed other teams, besides the three leaders, to dream.

Earlier in the day, both the London clubs Arsenal and Chelsea registered comfortable wins beating Fulham 5-1 and Southampton 3-0 respectively.

At Craven Cottage, Alexandre Lacazette (29', 49') and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (79', 90+1') scored a brace on either side of Aaron Ramsey's 67th-minute wonder strike. The demolition of Fulham will serve as a reminder to other teams that Unai Emery's side is quietly building something big. They have won nine matches in a row, across all competitions, and have climbed to fourth in the table, with 18 points.

The 0-3 result at St Mary's could be read as a routine result for the Blues. Eden Hazard opened the scoring in the 30th minute, then Ross Barkley and Alvaro Morata followed up with goals in 57th and 93rd minutes. Those three goals helped Maurizio Sarri's side leapfrog Liverpool to the second spot, just like what Arsenal did to Tottenham Hotspur.

Yesterday, Spurs (1-0) and Manchester United (3-2) registered hard-fought wins over ten-man Cardiff City and Newcastle United respectively. In other matches, Everton beat ten-man Leicester 2-1, Bournemouth beat ten-man Watford 4-0, Wolves beat Crystal Palace 1-0 and Brighton beat West Ham 1-0. Burnley were held to a 1-1 draw by Huddersfield.

Standings after round eight with points:

1-Manchester City (20), 2-Chelsea (20), 3-Liverpool (20), 4-Arsenal (18), 5-Tottenham (18), 6-Bournemouth (16), 7-Wolves (15), 8-Manchester United (13), 9-Watford (13), 10-Leicester City (12), 11-Everton (12), 12-Burnley (8), 13-Brighton (8), 14-Crystal Palace (7), 15-West Ham (7), 16-Southampton (5), 17-Fulham (5), 18-Huddersfield (3), Newcastle (2), 19-Newcastle (2), 20-Cardiff City (2).

Players will be with their respective teams for the October 8 to 16 FIFA Match Days. Most of the European players will be seen in the UEFA Nations League matches during this period.