Ryan Gravenberch makes 'difficult' admission after Man City as Liverpool reality clear

Liverpool midfielder Ryan Gravenberch spoke following the 2-1 defeat against Man City, which leaves the Reds chasing Man Utd and Chelsea in the race for the Champions League spots

Ryan Gravenberch during the Premier League match between Liverpool and Manchester City.(Image: Gaspafotos/MB Media/Getty Images)

Liverpool midfielder Ryan Gravenberch felt that his side should have come away from Anfield with something to show for their performance against Manchester City on Sunday.

Dominik Szoboszlai's brilliant free-kick broke the deadlock but Liverpool then collapsed late on. Bernardo Silva leveled, with Erling Haaland then netting the winner from the penalty spot - before Szoboszlai was sent off.

While Liverpool was much better in the second half, it was unable to get over the line, and now trails Manchester United by five points and Chelsea by four in the race for the Champions League places.

"Amazing free-kick from Dom," Gravenberch told BBC Match of the Day. "Then they score, and then in the end the decision of the ref to give a penalty and they go 2-1. It was difficult after it.

"Manchester City were far better than us in the first half but in the second half, we were far better than them. That's why it's difficult to come away with nothing.

"When we played them away, they beat us 3-0. We had control today but we have to move on. Sunderland is waiting for us."

Arne Slot reacts during the Premier League match between Liverpool and Manchester City at Anfield on February 08, 2026(Image: Michael Regan/Getty Images)

Szoboszlai will be suspended for that game on Wednesday, and Arne Slot does not believe that Joe Gomez will be back from injury. Jeremie Frimpong and Conor Bradley are definitely out.

Despite that, though, the Reds boss was keen to avoid blaming referee Craig Pawson for the red card, even if he took issue with some of the other decisions that were made on the day.

"We can talk about the decisions," Slot said on Sky Sports. "I would like to talk about the one time Mo was through on goal and Guehi holds his shirt.

"Everyone who has been in this stadium in the last eight years knows if Mo is in that position, it is a goal. So it is a denial of a goalscoring opportunity."

"Another great Liverpool-Man City game as we have seen over the years," Slot continued. "It is a very disappointing outcome.

"They were more comfortable on the ball than us and it didn't lead to many big chances. Second half, it was the opposite. And then for them, when they were near our box, it was a goal which is disappointing.

"We had chances when Curtis Jones has the ball and Salah makes a deep run. Unfortunately, Guehi intercepted it, and then we all saw what happened."

Liverpool.com says: The race for the Champions League places is getting to the point where there is almost no margin for error. As Gravenberch says, it was a tough one for the Reds to take today. Ultimately, though, they can't afford many more like that.