Liverpool's unbeaten start to this season is now over, in very unsatisfactory fashion. On Sunday, in Manchester City's first match since being found "guilty of all charges" by an independent commission, the Sky Blues laughed in the face of the Premier League, ultimately steamrollering the Reds 3-0.
That though does not begin to tell the whole story. The Reds were the better team for an hour, before Ryan Gravenberch was very controversially sent off for a second bookable offence by Chris Kavanagh. One could certainly argue that neither, especially the first, warranted yellows.
Ryan Gravenberch is OFF 🟥 pic.twitter.com/IVIHNzqw6k
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) October 11, 2026
Erling Braut Håland and Jérémy Doku both struck straight after, ending the match as a contest, with Rayan Cherki sparking a mass exodus from many of the Anfield faithful later on. Speaking to Sky Sports after the match, head coach Andoni Iraola agreed that Gravenberch's dismissal was the afternoon's key turning point:
"Yes I think it's obvious. I think we've played kind of two games today. One game until the 62nd minute when we received the red card and another game after the the red card. I think we have been the best team in the first first game let's say and and they've been better when we've played with 10 players. "Andoni Iraola
Subsequently speaking in his press conference, Iraola added that Gravenberch's first caution was "never a yellow card", adding that the referee was not even going to award a foul until Elliot Anderson lay on the ground feigning injury.
However, this is not all the manager wanted to focus on. Iraola aimed to take positives, while also acknowledging that this is difficult to do following a 3-0 defeat:
"The players deserve credit today because I think they've given everything. I think also the supporters have been fantastic today. Fantastic before, during, after... today we had a big advantage with Anfield, with the supporters. A massive advantage... the stadium has helped us a lot today. "Andoni Iraola
This game was always going to be a massive challenge for Iraola and his team. It had been confirmed on Friday during his press conference at AXA Training Centre that neither Alexander Isak nor Cody Gakpo were going to be available, due to injuries picked up on international duty.
Thus, when Dominik Szoboszlai's name did not appear on the team sheet either, even the most positive of Liverpool supporters surely would have been concerned. Iraola confirmed the Hungarian's availability status after the match:
"Dom came from the national team with tightness, an overload. We put him as a floater in the training and tried to protect him, but he was feeling something very small."Andoni Iraola
Next up, as Iraola himself notes, it is less than 48 hours until the Reds fly to Austria for their Champions League clash with LASK. Their next three Premier League matches are against the other members of the top four, just below Man City, namely Brentford, Brighton and then champions Arsenal.
Thus, things do not get much easier, so he'll be desperate for some of those key figures to return.
Add us as a preferred source on Google