Following back-to-back Premier League defeats to Aston Villa and Brighton and Hove Albion, goals from Enzo Fernandez (£6.9m) and Erling Haaland (£15.8m) helped Manchester City return to winning ways at RB Leipzig.
Haaland, recovering from a rare FPL blank, netted the decisive effort. It’s his fifth goal in three European matches, behind only Como’s Anastasios Douvikas.
Though largely struggling for service and missing one big chance, the Norwegian still finished with more shots on target (three) than anyone else. Speaking post-match, Haaland said that his side certainly has room to improve:
“I think we need to step up a bit. When we were 1-0 up, I think we needed to go at it, go for the second goal and then the third – that’s what we have to do. We have to work on that.” – Erling Haaland
Rayan Cherki (£7.9m) actually bettered Haaland for touches inside the box (7 v 6) and total shots (4 v 3) but could only put one effort on target. Another clipped the crossbar.
But this latest 90-minute midweek outing ensures there’ll still be questions over his Gameweek 10 usage. We expect Enzo Maresca to name a ‘number 10’ against Nottingham Forest, after his failed attempt to go without one last weekend. That meant that both Cherki and Phil Foden (£6.8m) dropped to the bench. However, Foden’s 64th-minute removal will concern Cherki owners. Still, the England international was far from his best and lost possession too often. Of course, both men could start on Saturday, if Maresca puts one on the right wing – as Foden was here.
More regular right-winger Iliman Ndiaye’s (£5.8m) minutes have been sufficiently managed in recent Gameweeks. Starting a sixth successive league match shouldn’t be difficult. Ndiaye actually began this encounter on the left because usual left-sider Jeremy Doku (£7.5m) was a substitute. His well-placed cross set up Fernandez’s goal, while Doku’s cameo was lively.
The £125m Argentine had gone seven games without a goal or assist before his 58th-minute header. That was his only attempt of the night, though he and Foden were both waiting to pounce on the Nico O’Reilly (£6.2m) cross that Castello Lukeba turned into his own net.
Elliot Anderson (£6.3m) was more involved, delivering the ball for Haaland’s winner, as well as making more tackles and winning more duels than any teammate. He hit the hypothetical defensive contribution (DefCon) threshold, too, like Abdukodir Khusanov (£5.3m).
Down the left, O’Reilly created two chances and missed a big one himself – a free header being sent wide. But a full runout while Josko Gvardiol (£5.7m) looked on means he’s probably still an FPL no-go.
Matheus Nunes (£5.9m) made an important block and won back possession more often than any teammate. He should continue at right-back, with Maresca likely choosing two of Khusanov, Ruben Dias (£5.5m) and Marc Guehi (£6.0m). The latter improved here, after shaky displays and a Gameweek 9 benching.
Meanwhile, questions remain over goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma (£5.5m). The usually reliable Italian has made a string of mistakes in recent weeks, and he somehow let Leipzig full-back Ridle Baku’s cross/shot squeeze inside his near post for the hosts’ first equaliser. He breathed a sigh of relief when a later free-kick struck the woodwork. Still, Maresca insisted last week that Donnarumma’s starting position isn’t under threat and, in fairness, he did make four saves.
Five changes from Sunday’s loss saw Alexander Isak (£9.2m) drop to the bench, as Bradley Barcola (£8.1m) led the line. But the French winger was largely ineffective in a central role. He tested Ederson with just one of his three total shots, missing two big chances.
Indeed, the Reds saw an instant improvement once Isak was introduced in the second half. He put up the same shooting stats as Barcola in less than a quarter of the time, converting his sole effort on target – a close-range header from Cody Gakpo‘s (£7.1m) cross.
Gakpo created three chances in his second-half cameo, including that assist. However, he was at fault for Fenerbahce’s quick second equaliser when a headed clearance instead knocked the ball past a stranded Alisson (£5.5m), who could only watch as the unmarked Archie Brown poked home at the far post. Still, Gakpo was more impactful than fellow substitute Florian Wirtz (£7.2m), who failed to make a difference.
Liverpool’s 25th-minute opener came after Rio Ngumoha‘s (£5.7m) dribble and shot, the ball rebounding to Dominik Szoboszlai (£6.7m). The Hungarian, lasting 90 minutes in his first start since Gameweek 7, saw his delivery cleared only as far as Trey Nyoni (£4.8m). The teenage midfielder’s volley broke the deadlock, deflected past an outstretched Ederson boot.
Handed back-to-back starts in central midfield, Nyoni would have earned DefCon points, had they been available. The only Red able to say that.
Ngumoha was a threat when he had the ball but didn’t see enough of it. Plus, he probably should have tracked back more often to help Kostas Tsimikas (£4.9m). Victor Munoz (£6.5m) put together a solid performance of three shots, two chances created and a game-high eight touches in the opposition’s penalty area.
Tsimikas created the most chances of everyone, but struggled defensively against Fenerbahce’s wide men. Neither he nor Joe Gomez (£4.9m) did much to stake a claim against current first-choice full-backs Milos Kerkez (£5.3m) and Ronald Araujo (£5.4m).
More defensive assurance is what Liverpool seem to need, especially on the continent where they’ve conceded nine goals in three games. Set pieces were a particular vulnerability on Wednesday, as all three Fenerbahce goals came from dead-ball situations, each within six minutes of the match’s previous strike.
“They’re goals that have hurt us because we’ve gone twice in front after having good moments, controlling the game, arriving. We’ve found the goals, but after we’ve conceded in situations, we should definitely defend better.” – Andoni Iraola
First, just after the opener, Szoboszlai gave up a free-kick on the edge of the area, which Jeremy Jacquet (£5.1m) turned his back to and therefore deflected the ball past Alisson. Gakpo’s aforementioned mishap derived from a short corner, meanwhile. And, six minutes after that, a long throw-in came back to Brown, whose looping follow-up cross saw Vedat Muriqi somehow beat Jacquet, Nyoni and Alexis Mac Allister (£5.4m) to head past Alisson.
“The main reason that I can find for why we lost this game is we conceded from three set pieces. It’s something that we were doing very well in the league, we were doing quite well until today.” – Andoni Iraola
It was a night to forget for the young French centre-back, having also missed a big chance early on. He’s still an appealing way into Liverpool’s defence for their decent upcoming matches, though. For those with more money to spend, partner Virgil van Dijk (£6.4m) gives more of an attacking threat. He had two shots on target from three total efforts.
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