Jamie Carragher has admitted that Manchester City are superior to this Liverpool side in one respect.
While Jurgen Klopp’s side are still above City in the Premier League table, there are facets to the game where the latter are still a better team.
For instance, in possession, Pep Guardiola’s men are better at controlling the tempo of games.
Whereas Liverpool often cede control and are often involved in end-to-end games.
However, it seems like the Reds thrive in such games while City do not.
Instead, the Sky Blues prefer to sustain as much pressure as possible and minimise the possibility of chance coming into the picture and dropping points, Liverpool seemingly embrace the chaos.
In all fairness, this has been one of the biggest differences between the two clubs in Guardiola and Klopp’s eras.
Perhaps the difference in both managers and the teams’ styles is perhaps what has been the beauty of their rivalry over the years.
Jamie Carragher spots “one thing” Manchester City do better than Liverpool
If they had similar approaches, perhaps the heated competition between the two clubs in the past few years would not be worthy of being seen as one of the best in Premier League history.
For instance, when Arsenal and Manchester United were going head-to-head under Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson’s spells, their contrast in styles also made their rivalry immensely riveting.
Similarly, while Liverpool have their own strengths, the same can be said about City.
Another example is how Manchester City seem far more open to embracing tactical change than the Merseyside-based side.
As a result, while the treble-winners’ core principles of play have remained the same year after year under Guardiola, their tactical blueprint and approach have not been, which is unlike the case under Klopp.
Perhaps that is one of the many reasons behind Pep Guardiola and Co. tasting more success than Jurgen Klopp’s side.
But after Liverpool drew 2-2 to Manchester United, Jamie Carragher pointed out the one area where Manchester City are better than them.
“I think the one thing when you talk about sort of the difference, certainly between Liverpool or Manchester City is how clinical Manchester City are and I just think a lot of those counter-attacks [against Manchester United], they play that better pass.”
“The teams are different, I get that. Liverpool are more end-to-end, pressing, a bit mad if you like where it’s a bit more composed for Manchester City”, he said on Sky Sports’ The Gary Neville Podcast.
Manchester City can also be wasteful like Liverpool
In our view, Jamie Carragher has failed to mention how many times Manchester City have been wasteful in front of goal just like Liverpool were against Manchester United, especially this season.
For instance, much like how the visitors should have been out of sight at Old Trafford on Sunday, the same can be said for City when they drew 1-1 to Chelsea or 4-4 to Tottenham Hotspur.
In this respect, City and Liverpool are quite similar as for all the brilliant football they can produce, they can be rather profligate.
The inability to kill games off by capitalising on relatively easy goalscoring chances has been the Sky Blues’ problem for years, especially in Europe.
As a result, even if Manchester City were to have been more clinical than Liverpool were against Manchester United, they too have had similar days in terms of being wasteful like their title rivals.