Man City 3-0 Liverpool: Damning Florian Wirtz stat emerges as Arne Slot reacts to disallowed Van Dijk goal

Liverpool's Premier League title hopes suffered a potentially fatal blow in their comprehensive 3-0 loss to Manchester City at the Etihad, where £116m signing Florian Wirtz endured another underwhelming evening.

The Germany international started on the left of the Reds' attacking quartet after a spritely display in his side's 1-0 Champions League win over Real Madrid, keeping Cody Gakpo at bay once again.

However, on an evening where no Liverpool player did themselves justice - barring perhaps Giorgi Mamardashvili for keeping out Erling Haaland's penalty - Wirtz was unable to influence proceedings once again.

During his 83 minutes on the pitch, the former Bayer Leverkusen star failed to create a single chance, generated just 0.08 Expected Assists and also failed to deliver an accurate cross from two attempts.

Wirtz did fire two shots in Manchester, but both were blocked, meaning that he has now failed to score or assist in any of his first 11 appearances in the Premier League.

Florian Wirtz tops unwanted category after Liverpool lose to Man City

Furthermore, Wirtz has now had a total of 28 shot involvements in the 2025-26 top-flight season, the most in the Premier League without a single goal or assist, as per Opta.

That number is made up of the 12 shots Wirtz has had without finding the back of the net, as well as the 16 chances he has created without setting up a teammate.

Wirtz's 28 shot involvements without a single direct contribution is at least seven more than any other player in the Premier League - Newcastle United's Anthony Gordon is second on the list with 21 shots and key passes without success.

While Liverpool's former record signing failed to leave his mark on the game, City wing wizard Jeremy Doku dazzled and delighted, completing seven successful dribbles, winning a penalty and rounding off the scoring with a wonderful curling drive.

Doku made sure of the win for City after earlier efforts from Erling Haaland and Nico Gonzalez, although Liverpool controversially had a 38th-minute equaliser ruled out for an offside offence.

Andrew Robertson - who was stood behind the last defender - ducked out of the way to avoid a Virgil van Dijk header from a corner, and the Dutchman's effort subsequently nestled into the side of the net after Gianluigi Donnarumma's full-stretch save attempt.

Man City 3-0 Liverpool: Arne Slot reacts to disallowed Virgil van Dijk goal

Reds boss Arne Slot took issue with the decision to disallow Van Dijk's goal, although he refused to use the incident as an excuse, telling reporters: "It’s not to say for me it was clear and obvious for me that it was the wrong decision that this goal was not allowed.

"But I will not say that because of that we’ve lost the game because after 1-1, if City just kept on playing like they did then we would have struggled in the second half as well.

"I would like to emphasise the fact that being 2-0 down at half-time was a fair reflection of how the game went. They were, in every aspect of football, better [than us in] the first half."

Liverpool remain seven points behind leaders Arsenal in the Premier League table, and the eighth-placed champions return to action with a home fixture against Nottingham Forest following the international break.