Rodrigo: Manchester City 'Much Better Overall' Than Liverpool in Anfield Loss

Manchester City midfielder Rodrigo has said his side were "much better overall" than Liverpool despite their 3-1 defeat at Anfield on Sunday. 

Fabinho, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane netted for the hosts inside an hour on Merseyside, and despite a 78th-minute strike from Bernardo Silva, the Reds eventually claimed a vital win in the title race:

There was plenty of controversy during the fixture, and statistically City edged the match on possession and chances created:

They did not make it count, though, and Rodrigo said afterwards that everything went in Liverpool's favour, per the Guardian's Jamie Jackson:

"I think we were much better overall. We created more chances than them, but they arrive to our goal three times and scored three goals.

"We are leaving with a bittersweet feeling, because we wanted to win. I don't think they have been much better than us, but they have scored the chances they had.

"They are very strong at the moment, and they are having everything right. We have been brave, we have tried during the 90 minutes, we never gave up. We have had to face several blows along the game."

The Spaniard added City are "absolutely not" out of the title race despite the nine-point gap to Liverpool.

In December last year, the Sky Blues were 10 points back from the Merseyside giants, albeit with a game in hand, and eventually won the title by a single point.

In order to match the same points tally they did in 2018-19, City will need to average over 2.8 points per game for the rest of the campaign.

There was scepticism early on in 2019-20 about whether Liverpool could match their points tally of 97 from last term:

Over a quarter of the way into the season, though, they look relentless.

Jurgen Klopp's side have dropped just two points in 12 games, when they were held to a 1-1 draw by Manchester United at Old Trafford in October.

It may be only November, but Liverpool now have a comfortable enough lead over City to start considering the possibility of a first title win in 30 years.

After the international break, the Reds will look to keep their remarkable run going when they visit Crystal Palace on November 23 before City host in-form Chelsea.