Florian Wirtz sends three-word message to fans after Manchester City loss

 Liverpool suffered a fifth Premier League defeat in six games after a disappointing 3-0 loss to title contenders Manchester City on Sunday afternoon.

Erling Haaland opened the scoring, and a deflected strike from Nico Gonzalez put the home side firmly in control before the break.

Jeremy Doku added a second-half goal to seal the victory for Pep Guardiola’s men.

The defeat leaves Arne Slot’s side in eighth place, their lowest position under the Dutchman since his arrival in the summer of 2024.

After the game, Arne Slot said: “They were, in every aspect of football, better [than us in] the first half.

“I would say like last season; I saw a lot of similarities between last season and this season with one main difference in that after we struggled in the first 25 minutes a lot we scored a set-piece.

“That changed the game. They kept on outplaying us for 90 minutes but it did help us to get some energy to keep defending well. Last season, they didn’t create that many chances.

“I think today they created more, but it wasn’t that they had chance after chance after chance, but this time they were much more effective with the chances they had.

“First goal, I don’t think it’s a big chance, I think it’s also quality. Third goal, it’s not a big chance but it is quality. Second goal, set-piece.

He added: “Of course, everyone is disappointed.

“It was a very good start to the week, winning against [Aston] Villa and Real Madrid, but if you thought you already faced two strong opponents then Man City comes across, away at the Etihad.

“That is, for every team, difficult, including for us. They were by far the much better side in the first half.

Florian Wirtz addressed Reds fans on his Instagram story on Monday evening, writing: “We keep going!”

The 22-year-old has faced scrutiny for his early career at Anfield, struggling to reproduce the form that earned him a big-money move from Bayer Leverkusen.