Liverpool v Man City player ratings: Florian Wirtz struggles in a difficult afternoon for the Reds

Manchester City extended their perfect start to the season with a 3-0 win at Anfield, inflicting the first defeat of Andoni Iraola’s reign as Liverpool boss. Erling Haaland, Jeremy Doku and Rayan Cherki scored the goals, and Liverpool were reduced to ten men after Ryan Gravenberch was dismissed for a second yellow card.

Here is how the players were rated, with the average scores from submitted ratings shown beside each name.

Liverpool

Alisson (5): Could do nothing to keep out Haaland’s strike, then was beaten by a superb effort from Doku and some tidy footwork from 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 down Haaland more quickly.

Jeremy Jacquet (6): Was not a bad display from a young talent who is very impressive, but this must have been 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 went down to ten 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. Was 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, making 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, delivered a strong performance at centre-half and can take satisfaction from the way the pair 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 after fouling the Spaniard in the second half.

Elliot Anderson (7): Always showed for the ball and was constantly involved, but was lucky not to be booked for pulling back Gravenberch. Turned provider for Doku.

Enzo Fernandez (6): Forced Alisson into a good stop in the first half but did not 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 numerical advantage.

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

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

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