Liverpool FC Evening Debriefing: City loss, Gravenberch red

Liverpool lost 3-0 at home to Manchester City in the Premier League, with all three goals coming after Ryan Gravenberch was sent off for a second yellow card in the 62nd minute.

Erling Haaland put City ahead in the 65th minute, Jeremy Doku curled in a second three minutes later and Rayan Cherki added a third in the 78th from Josko Gvardiol’s flicked assist, finishing a 41-pass move. It was goalless until the red card: Gianluigi Donnarumma saved from Lewis Koumas and Gravenberch shortly after the restart, and shortly before it Haaland dinked a one-on-one wide. Koumas made his first Premier League start in place of the injured Alexander Isak and Cody Gakpo, with Dominik Szoboszlai also out.

The defeat ends Andoni Iraola’s unbeaten start as Liverpool head coach, in his seventh game, and leaves Liverpool ninth on nine points, nine behind leaders City, who have won all six league games. Chris Kavanagh was the referee, with Paul Howard on VAR, and the attendance was 60,338. It was City’s first match since the independent commission found them guilty of breaching the Premier League’s financial rules, which they have appealed and deny. The Kop made its feelings clear throughout, with banners and chants aimed at the visitors.

Gravenberch’s red card and what Iraola said

Gravenberch had already been booked for a foul on Elliot Anderson, and the second yellow came for a challenge on Doku as City tried to break. Iraola strongly disagreed with the first booking: “I think the first foul of Ryan is never a yellow card – never.” He said Liverpool were the better team until the red card, that “the players deserve credit today” and that the supporters were “fantastic”. Virgil van Dijk told Sky Sports Gravenberch was “probably” unfortunate, “but the matter of fact is he gets a second yellow”, and pointed to Ronald Araujo’s early caution as one that other players did not receive. Sky’s Gary Neville called the second booking “very soft”, while BBC Sport’s commentary argued the referee had no option once Gravenberch made the challenge.

A second yellow card carries an automatic one-match suspension, so Gravenberch is expected to miss Saturday’s trip to Brentford. As it is a domestic ban, reports say he is available for Wednesday’s Champions League game at LASK.

Szoboszlai, Isak and Gakpo unlikely for LASK

Iraola said it will be “difficult to recover any of the players” for Wednesday’s trip to Austria, with Liverpool flying out in two days and playing four games in 10 days. Szoboszlai, whom Iraola confirmed before kick-off was out with a hamstring problem, “came from the national team with tightness, an overload”, Iraola said, and was “feeling something very small”. On Isak (thigh) and Gakpo (ankle), he told Sky Sports: “They are not too big injuries but we travel to Austria in two days. It will be difficult to be ready for the next one.”

Nothing in the club’s reports or Iraola’s comments mentions a new injury from the game. It also answers this morning’s hotel-arrival question: Mac Allister started, and Szoboszlai was the one missing.

Player verdicts

BBC Sport’s player ratings gave Koumas and Victor Munoz sevens, Gravenberch a six despite the red card, and Florian Wirtz a four. Wirtz was replaced by Nyoni in the 66th minute and Barcola by Chiesa in the 88th, with Frimpong and Ngumoha on for Araujo and Koumas in the 75th.

Fixtures

All times UK. Wednesday 14 October: LASK v Liverpool, Champions League, 5.45pm. Saturday 17 October: Brentford v Liverpool, Premier League, 3pm. Tuesday 20 October: Liverpool v Villarreal, Champions League, 8pm. Sunday 25 October: Liverpool v Brighton, Premier League, 2pm.

Transfers, contracts and ownership

Nothing new from the likes of David Ornstein and Paul Joyce, and nothing new on contracts, ownership or staffing. The stories still doing the rounds are recycled. Gilberto Mora’s reported Liverpool bid and Arsenal approach still come from Mexican outlets and aggregators, with no club confirmation, and he turns 18 on Wednesday. The €70m price on Lamine Camara traces back to Ben Jacobs, a self-styled transfer insider whose claims often come to nothing, and no Liverpool bid has been reported. Marc Bernal of Barcelona is a January link from TEAMtalk, a long-running transfer gossip site with a patchy record, relaying a Spanish reporter, and Jules Koundé is a Football Insider claim, a clickbait site, repeated through Bild and Goal. None of it is confirmed.