Liverpool

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Former Manchester United and Everton striker Wayne Rooney discussing Liverpool's current position on his BBC podcast: "For Liverpool, the whole season really has been a concern.

"I actually thought they did brilliantly in the second half against Manchester City. They have been good in certain games and not picked up the results.

"Now they've got a battle on to try to make a Champions League place. There'll be pressure coming on Arne Slot.

"I don't think Liverpool will change anything now, but in the summer it'll be really interesting.

"Slot's job might be that he has to finish in the Champions League places, so that brings a lot of pressure on them."

Watch The Wayne Rooney Show on BBC iPlayer or listen on BBC Sounds

We asked for your thoughts after Sunday's Premier League game between Liverpool and Manchester City.

Here are some of your comments:

Liverpool fans

Douglas: Liverpool's defence exposed again. The club will go nowhere until this is fixed. The defence showed how slow they are, both physically and mentally. What on earth was Alisson thinking?

Barry: Liverpool just cannot manage a game. After scoring, they dropped deep, inviting City on to them. There was a horrible inevitably about what happened. Then the Dominik Szoboszlai sending off to complete a dismal afternoon. Who will play right-back now on Wednesday? Probably Joe Gomez if he's fit. Calvin Ramsay must be wondering what he has to do to get a game.

Stuart: Let's not have an improvement in the second half cloud our judgement here. Liverpool are in need of a massive overhaul from right at the very top down to the squad. So many areas need urgent attention - the owners, the director of football and the manager and his coaching team, to the players, who are obviously no longer able to perform. This is going to take another two to three years minimum to fix.

Leo: Mohamed Salah has become the weakest link of this Liverpool team. Can't score, can't assist, can't get past defenders, can't defend. And teams are no better than their weakest links.

Man City fans

Brian: City now prove they have the stomach for a fight and the bottle to hang in there and believe. This was a huge win and an injection of confidence into all their fans. An away win at Liverpool is rare, but this was no ordinary win. This was a team playing as a team and with a will to win that will send shivers into the spines of Arsenal players. The blue moon is out there.

Harry: I shamefully admit I had lost all hope after Szoboszlai's absolutely incredible free-kick. Witnessing moments like that sometimes make the loss a bit easier and I never imagined we'd get back into the game. For a large portion we played far too tight, and Antoine Semenyo became restricted with a lack of wide play. We controlled the first half, but the second half was far more open and Liverpool have a right to feel aggrieved to get nothing from this game. Gianluigi Donnarumma was our saviour once again. So, so proud of our lads for showing some fight. Marc Guehi was monumental. CTID.

John: After a clear loss of belief by the City players in the past few league games, and the first half of Sunday's match, Bernardo Silva dragged his team-mates back to make them believe in themselves once again. In the end, it was heroics that got them through.

Tom: A great first half, then a few jitters crept in. Anfield is a difficult place to play. Liverpool generally pass so well, but they made a few mistakes and City's momentum kicked in. This was like the 2023 side - and once Bernardo equalised there was real belief. City can use this to go on a run. With Erling Haaland and the boys, anything is possible.

Former England captain Wayne Rooney says he understood the late VAR call in Manchester City's chaotic win at Liverpool on Sunday.

There was widespread confusion in the stadium and endless debate on social media following the decision to chalk off a Rayan Cherki goal and issue a red card to Liverpool's Dominik Szobozslai.

Former City goalkeeper Joe Hart agreed with Rooney, stating "rules are rules" after the officials applied the letter of the law to the action.

You can watch the analysis above from Match of the Day or a clip from The Wayne Rooney show below.

Watch The Wayne Rooney Show on BBC iPlayer or listen on BBC Sounds

Aadam Patel
Liverpool reporter

Once Dominik Szoboszlai scored a goal worthy of winning many a football match, Liverpool should not have lost this game.

Arne Slot's side were poor in the first half, but looked a different force in the second period, with Mohamed Salah, Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike all growing into the game.

Szoboszlai's strike left most of the ground in disbelief, with Ibrahima Konate holding his hands on his head.

But, yet again, Liverpool failed to see the game out.

Only this time, it went from bad to worse when Alisson made a poor decision to bring Matheus Nunes crashing down for the penalty.

Liverpool have now conceded four 90th-minute winners in league matches this season - the joint-most by a team in a Premier League campaign after Watford in 2017-18, West Ham in 2021-22, Watford again in 2021-22, and Southampton in 2024-25.

And with Szoboszlai dismissed - as he grabbed Erling Haaland's shirt to prevent the Norwegian striker making sure Rayan Cherki's shot went in - and banned for Wednesday's game against Sunderland, it remains to be seen who could fill in at right-back.

Pep Guardiola had spoken pre-match about the power of Anfield and how it was a stage that called for big personalities to make a difference.

Unfortunately for Liverpool, it was City who turned up in numbers on that front when it mattered most.

Slot's side are now four points behind fifth-placed Chelsea. There's still a long way to go, but it would be inexplicable if the current champions failed to qualify for next season's Champions League.

Liverpool could be about to re-sign 23-year-old England centre-back Jarell Quansah from Bayer Leverkusen next year. (Football Insider), external

Juventus, Napoli and Roma are all possible destinations for Federico Chiesa, with Liverpool open to allowing the forward to leave for about 25-30m euros (£21.7m-£26m). (Caught Offside), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Monday's full gossip column

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Pundits Joe Hart and Wayne Rooney join host Mark Chapman to bring you the action and talking points from Sunday's Premier League fixtures.

Watch on BBC iPlayer here

And listen back to full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Brighton 0-1 Crystal Palace

• Liverpool 1-2 Man City

Liverpool boss Arne Slot, speaking to BBC Match of the Day: "A lot has happened, which is normal in this fixture. For us we are disappointed to come away without a result

"In the first half, Manchester City were the better team without creating many big chances but they had the ball more in our half. The second half, we were on top and had good moments. We went 1-0 up and hardly gave anything away. Just before the end, one deflected cross falls good for them and It's 1-1. We tried to prevent and they won the first header. Good anticipation from Bernardo [Silva] and good finish.

"We are getting almost used to conceding a goal in extra time, it happened again today.

On Szoboszlai's red card: "That is not the incident we should talk about. Maybe he should have left it for a goal as it is, but if that is the rule that is what we have to accept.

"If there is any incident we should talk about, it's when Mo Salah is one on one with the goalkeeper. Anyone who has been to this stadium in the last seven or eight years, that is a goal for Salah. Once again, the referee decides not in our favour. They have to do their job."

Can you look at this game positively?: "Of course. Second half we pressed really high and played good football. You cannot compare this game with three or four months ago, we have improved so much - but we need to improve the results. So many times this year we haven't got what I think we deserve and this is another time."

Did you know?

• Liverpool have conceded four 90th-minute winners in league matches this season; already the joint-most by a team in a single Premier League campaign, after Watford in 2017-18, West Ham in 2021-22, Watford in 2021-22, and Southampton in 2024-25.

• Liverpool lost a Premier League game at Anfield in which they scored the opening goal for the first time since April 2017 (2-1 defeat v Crystal Palace). Between those two matches, the Reds were unbeaten in 109 home league games when scoring the opening goal (W98 D11).

Whether you were at the game or following from elsewhere, we want to know what you learned.

Have your say on Liverpool's performance

What did you make of Manchester City's display?

Come back on Monday for a selection of your replies

Shamoon Hafez
Football reporter

Liverpool boss Arne Slot names the same starting XI from the side that beat Newcastle 4-1 last time out.

It means the in-form Hugo Ekitike leads the line supported by Florian Wirtz, who is beginning to find his feet in a Reds shirt.

Liverpool XI: Alisson, Szobozslai, Konate, Van Dijk, Kerkez, Gravenberch, Mac Allister, Salah, Gakpo, Wirtz, Ekitike.

Subs: Chiesa, Endo, Jones, Mamardashvili, Ngumoha, Nyoni, Ramsay, Robertson, Woodman.

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola makes five changes to the side that beat Newcastle in midweek to reach the Carabao Cup final.

There is a huge surprise with captain Bernardo Silva recovering from a hamstring injury to start the game and there are five changes in all.

Centre-back Marc Guehi could have been lining up in a home shirt but instead comes to Anfield for City, while 2024 Ballon d'Or winner Rodri starts in midfield.

Gianluigi Donnarumma returns in goal and the Erling Haaland is looking to end his Anfield hoodoo by starting up front.

James Trafford, Tijjani Reijnders, Phil Foden, Nathan Ake and Nico Gonzalez all drop to the bench.

Man City XI: Donnarumma, Nunes, Khusanov, Guehi, Ait-Nouri, Rodri, Silva, O'Reilly, Marmoush, Semenyo, Haaland.

Subs: Ake, Cherki, Foden, González, Lewis, Alleyne, Reijnders, Trafford, Dias

There are two games in the Premier League on Sunday and BBC Sport will bring you every moment.

• Brighton v Crystal Palace (14:00) - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

• Liverpool v Man City (16:30) - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

Kick-off times GMT

Follow Brighton v Crystal Palace here

And go here for Liverpool v Man City

You can also listen to today's 5 Live Premier League commentaries on most smart speakers. Just say "ask BBC Sounds to play Brighton v Crystal Palace" or "ask BBC Sounds to play Liverpool v Man City".

Find out more about how to listen to Premier League football on BBC Sounds

Chris Sutton is making predictions for all 380 Premier League games this season, against AI, BBC Sport readers and a variety of guests.

His guest for week 25 is Gladiators star Apollo, real name Alex Gray, who supports Newcastle.

Sutton says: It will be interesting to see if Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola starts with Omar Marmoush up front ahead of Erling Haaland after his two goals against Newcastle in midweek, but their attack looks strong anyway with Rayan Cherki and Antoine Semenyo in the team.

The same applies to Liverpool, who have got a striker in form in Hugo Ekitike, while Florian Wirtz is playing with confidence too.

City will have moments where they will create chances, but Liverpool are going to have opportunities at the other end as well - there will be a few goals in this game.

Sutton's prediction: 2-2

Apollo's prediction: 2-3

AI's prediction: 2-2

Read the full predictions and have your say here