4 talking points from Liverpool's 1-1 draw with Manchester City

Liverpool came from behind to salvage a point at the Etihad as the Reds drew 1-1 with Manchester City.

City took the lead in the first half through Erling Haaland, registering his 50th goal in the English top flight - the fastest a player has ever reached that tally.

However, 1o minutes from time, Trent Alexander-Arnold fired into the far corner to claw Liverpool level.

The Reds were able to see the contest out, taking a valuable point from a ground they have become so used to losing at.

That said, there were a lot of imperfections in Liverpool's performance, and as such, we aren't sure of things to discuss.

Here are four talking points from today’s game.

Injuries? What injuries?

We start with a development that came an hour prior to kick-off. Let’s talk about City’s lineup.

Manchester City were supposedly a side ravaged by injuries – with likes of Erling Haaland, Nathan Ake, Ederson and Rodri all suffering setbacks during the international break.

However, shock horror, come 11:30am and Pep Guardiola’s lineup was packed to the gills with players that were meant to be doubtful to even feature.

You can’t blame City for fielding a strong side in what is, of course one of their biggest games of the season – but after two weeks of constant talk about how the champions were stricken with injury problems, it was frustrating to their lineup seemingly unaffected.

The woes of the early kick-off

“The people making these decisions, they cannot feel football.”

We can’t help but echo Jurgen Klopp’s sentiment on the powers that be that decided Manchester City vs Liverpool was fitting of the Saturday early kick-off, directly after an international break.

The fatigue on those who’d just travelled halfway around the world was apparent, with Alisson in particular far from his best.

The Reds stopper just didn’t look on the ball today, with one distribution blunder leading to City’s opener.

A day to forget for the Brazilian – however, his performance wasn’t the only concern of the afternoon.

Alisson injured

In the final minute of the game, Alisson was left grounded and holding his hamstring as Liverpool prepared for a Hail Mary corner from City.

Liverpool had used all five subs, so there was no option for the Brazilian other than to tough it out.

Alisson saw Haaland’s resulting header flash past the post, as he and the entire away end let out a giant sigh of relief.

However, he was seen receiving treatment after the game, with concerns that he may have picked up a muscle problem.

Let’s hope it was just cramp.

Tsimikas impresses again

When it was revealed that Andy Robertson would be out for a prolonged period of time, there were fears about how Kostas Tsimikas would do filling in at left-back.

Those fears, at first, were realised. Tsimikas’ first few involvements left a sour taste, with Joe Gomez preferred in a position he hadn’t assumed in eight years.

However, the Greek international has silenced his critics in his last two outings.

Following, up a brace of assists against Brentford from two weeks ago, he put in a convincing outing against the best team in the league today – arguably being Liverpool’s best defender.