Stones was ruthlessly exposed

LIVERPOOL have shown that to beat Manchester City you must ask questions of their central defenders. When forwards run at John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi, they can get into trouble. Until yesterday, few had been able to get the other side of Fernandinho and expose them. After giving Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain the space to run in and score, Otamendi punched the floor. He knew he should have done better. For Liverpool’s second goal, Stones needed to be quicker and stronger up against Roberto Firmino. The rough, tough side of his defending still needs to be developed. Stones could have also got tighter to Sadio Mane when the Senegalese scored his wonder goal to put Liverpool 3-1 ahead. With City’s centre halves struggling, Ederson was forced to gamble and play higher as a sweeper-keeper to help. That led to his poor clearance, which Mohamed Salah punished. At times, Liverpool overwhelmed City. Stones and Otamendi will not have a more difficult game all season.