Liverpool v Man City player ratings: Florian Wirtz struggles in a tough outing for the Reds

Manchester City beat Liverpool to extend their perfect start, with Erling Haaland, Jeremy Doku and Rayan Cherki all on the scoresheet. The win inflicted a first defeat for Liverpool under Andoni Iraola.

Here are the player ratings for the match.

Key sections in the article:

Liverpool

Alisson (5): Could do nothing to keep out Erling Haaland’s strike, then was beaten by a beauty from Jeremy Doku and some solid footwork from Rayan Cherki.

Ronald Araujo (5): Picked up a cheap yellow card early on and will be annoyed that the first two City goals came from his side.

Virgil van Dijk (6): Often pushed out of position to help Liverpool deal with being outnumbered in midfield. Perhaps could have closed Haaland down more quickly.

Jeremy Jacquet (6): A young talent who is very impressive, but this was a real eye-opener against a quality City attack.

Milos Kerkez (5): Battled well with Iliman Ndiaye and pushed up regularly but lacked quality in the final third.

Alexis Mac Allister (5): Grew into the game and put in a good shift but struggled once Liverpool were down to 10 men.

Ryan Gravenberch (6): Came in for the injured Dominik Szoboszlai and was Liverpool’s best player until he was sent off for a second yellow card. Naive on his part.

Victor Munoz (7): Played with real fearlessness and was an absolute nuisance for City, causing Nico O’Reilly all sorts of problems.

Florian Wirtz (4): Simply has to do better, particularly in games of this magnitude. Largely ineffective and made some poor decisions.

Bradley Barcola (5): Sharp on the ball and did his defensive duties, but, like Wirtz, must do more in the final third.

Lewis Koumas (7): Making his first Premier League start, the 21-year-old got stuck in from the outset in an energetic display that was loved by the Anfield crowd.

Substitutes not used: Mamardashvili, Endo, Tsimikas, McConnell.

Manchester City

Gianluigi Donnarumma (7): Had a shaky start but made a string of good saves early in the second half to deny Koumas and Gravenberch and keep the game level.

Matheus Nunes (7): An impressive display, including a great tackle in the box to deny Barcola in the first half.

Ruben Dias (7): Did well to weather the early storm and keep Liverpool out.

Marc Guehi (7): Like Dias, gave a strong performance at centre-half and can take satisfaction from the way City defended, especially when Liverpool attacked The Kop end.

Nico O’Reilly (6): Solid going forward but had his work cut out against Munoz and was inevitably booked for fouling him in the second half.

Elliot Anderson (7): Always showed for the ball and was constantly involved. Lucky not to be booked for pulling Gravenberch back, and got the assist for Doku.

Enzo Fernandez (6): Forced Alisson into a good stop in the first half but didn’t really grow into the game until Gravenberch was sent off.

Iliman Ndiaye (6): Dangerous on the ball and had a few threatening moments before being replaced by Doku.

Rayan Cherki (8): Capped off a day to remember for City with a lovely goal.

Antoine Semenyo (7): Threatening all afternoon and part of an attack that was simply too good for Liverpool once City had the man advantage.

Erling Haaland (8): Had a quiet first half and missed a huge chance early in the second half, but finished emphatically to give City the lead.

Jeremy Doku (8): Came on for Ndiaye on 56 minutes and scored an absolute belter.

Substitutes not used: Rulli, Kovacic, Reis, Khusanov, Lewis.

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