Gravenberch Dismissal Changes Everything: Five Things We Learned From Liverpool 0-3 Manchester City

For much of the afternoon, the Reds competed well against the Premier League leaders and looked capable of earning a positive result, but Ryan Gravenberch's second-half dismissal shifted the momentum firmly in the visitors' favour before goals from Erling Haaland, Jérémy Doku and Rayan Cherki sealed a painful defeat. 

While the scoreline makes for difficult reading, there were still several key talking points to emerge from Liverpool's first league loss of the campaign. 

From concerns over Liverpool's attacking options to encouraging individual displays and the impact of a pivotal moment, here are five things we learned from the clash at Anfield.

Liverpool were the better side for large periods of the game, but there was always a feeling they lacked a cutting edge in the final third. The absence of Alexander Isak and Cody Gakpo was a major blow, with the pair contributing 11 goals and assists between them already this season.

The Reds moved the ball well, battled and at times had Manchester City pinned back in their own half. However, when Liverpool got into dangerous areas, they too often lacked the quality needed to turn promising attacks into goals.

Against a side of City's calibre, that proved costly. Had Isak and Gakpo been available, Liverpool may well have made their dominance count before the game slipped away.

Before his red card, Ryan Gravenberch looked back to his best. After a difficult start to the season that has seen him spend plenty of time on the bench and appear short of confidence, the Dutchman reminded supporters of his quality with an energetic midfield display. He drove Liverpool forward whenever possible, was strong defensively and played a major role in the Reds' dominance before the game turned on its head. In fact, there were moments when Gravenberch looked like Liverpool's most likely goalscorer, making dangerous runs from midfield and causing Manchester City problems whenever he carried the ball into advanced areas.

His display comes at an important time for Andoni Iraola. With Dominik Szoboszlai currently sidelined, Liverpool will need Gravenberch to take on even greater responsibility in midfield over the coming weeks.

Although Gravenberch will be unavailable for Liverpool's trip to Brentford due to suspension, he remains eligible for Wednesday's European clash against LASK. Given Szoboszlai's absence, that fixture offers him another opportunity to build momentum and demonstrate that he can be a key figure for Liverpool during a crucial period of the season.

With both Alexander Isak and Cody Gakpo unavailable, this felt like the perfect opportunity for Florian Wirtz and Bradley Barcola to step up and lead Liverpool's attack. Instead, neither player was able to make the sort of influence the Reds needed in a game of this magnitude.

There is certainly room for patience when it comes to Barcola. The Frenchman is only a handful of games into his Liverpool career and arrived without the benefit of a full pre-season, making it understandable that he is still adapting to his new surroundings. Wirtz, however, does not have the same excuses. Now into his second season at Anfield, the German is yet to consistently dominate the biggest matches in the way many supporters expected following his arrival.

Ironically, Liverpool's brightest attacking performers came from elsewhere. Victor Muñoz and Lewis Koumas both caused Manchester City problems all game. While neither managed to change the result, they offered far more attacking threat than Liverpool's two most expensive forwards.

On a day where fine margins ultimately proved decisive, Liverpool were left wondering what might have been. Had Wirtz and Barcola delivered the level of performance expected from players of their pedigree and price tag, the outcome could easily have looked very different.

There is no getting away from the fact that Ryan Gravenberch's second yellow card completely altered the course of the match. Liverpool looked the more likely side to break the deadlock before the Dutchman was dismissed just after the hour mark, with the atmosphere inside Anfield growing louder and the momentum firmly with the home side. According to Sky Sports, Liverpool had generated an xG of 0.92 compared to Manchester City's 0.16 before the sending-off.

Many supporters will feel the second booking was a harsh one, but once Liverpool were reduced to 10 men, the challenge became significantly tougher. The players were already entering the stage of the game where fatigue starts to become a factor and there is arguably no worse opponent to face with a numerical disadvantage than Manchester City.

In many ways, it brought back memories of Liverpool's trip to the Etihad during the 2017/18 season when Sadio Mané's red card changed the entire complexion of the contest and allowed City to run away with the result. This was not quite the same scenario, but the feeling was similar. One moment turned a tightly fought encounter into a comfortable Manchester City victory.

Although the final scoreline reads 3-0, this did not feel like a typical 3-0 defeat. Had Liverpool been comfortably beaten from start to finish, there would be far greater cause for concern, but the reality was very different.

While the result is undoubtedly disappointing, the performance before the red card should give supporters encouragement. If Liverpool can reproduce that level against the rest of their difficult run of fixtures, there is every reason to believe the wins will continue to come.