Liverpool can blame Jon Moss for their defeat, but they contributed hugely to their own downfall

Dion Fanning - Reporting from Eastlands

Liverpool’s stunning victory against Arsenal before the international break was an example of all that can be achieved through Jurgen Klopp’s approach to football. Arsenal’s weak resistance may have been a contributing factor, but Liverpool exploited it fully.

Referee Jon Moss may have been a contributing factor in their defeat to City here on Saturday, but wastefulness in attack and familiar failings at the back had already been displayed before Moss made the decision to send Sadio Mane off which enraged so many.

The game may have reached a fascinating point and Moss may well “have ruined it as a spectacle” - even though it’s not up to the referee to protect the game as a spectacle, but to protect the players - yet, by the time Mane was sent off, Liverpool had already hinted at familiar vulnerabilities.

Liverpool had conceded a goal too easily when Kevin De Bruyne had space to hit a ball straight through the defence for Sergio Aguero to finish. They had also wasted every opportunity to exploit another characteristically confused performance from Nicolas Otamendi.

Pep Guardiola demands a lot of his players and Otamendi played on Saturday as if he was trying to flick through a folder of Pep instructions he had brought with him on to the pitch, while simultaneously also attempting to defend against the pace of Salah.

Vincent Kompany’s injury playing for Belgium against Gibraltar ruled him out and highlighted an ongoing weakness and Otamendi demonstrated once again that he is not the solution.

Liverpool found space down Otamendi’s side, but whenever they did, Salah did little with the opportunity.

He has scored three goals for Liverpool already, but he’s also missed several chances and here he wasted a critical one, shooting tamely at Ederson after Mane had brilliantly played him in.

For all the excitement and intrigue surrounding these two coaches, in the opening half an hour, it seemed as if the game would be determined by the weakest players. Otamendi was identified as the most likely by Liverpool, while Klopp’s decision to select Ragnar Klavan may have been as big a factor in the result as Moss’s decision.

But if Alexander-Arnold was struggling,  City cruised through the second half and even Otamendi looked relaxed before being replaced with 20 minutes to go