Liverpool v Manchester City: Man for man marking

LIVERPOOL

Pepe Reina: Misjudged a Tevez cross which eventually led to City's first equaliser, but otherwise had little to deal with 5/10

Glen Johnson: Showed good strength and attacking attitude on the left but came in and out of the match too often 6

Martin Kelly: Failed to clear in the area before sloppy play for City's first, but looked clever going forward 6

Sebastian Coates: Got caught out and lacked concentration at times, but allowed Tevez and Balotelli little room for manoeuvre 5

Martin Skrtel: Covered his defence well before and after piling home the opener, but awful backpass led to City's second 6

Steven Gerrard: Heavily involved in his side's first-half dominance, dropped off in the second half but still at hub of most moves 7

Lucas: Brazilian substituted after just five minutes with injury – disappointing after being kept out for much of last season N/A

Joe Allen: Kept the ball ticking over well in the middle third as Liverpool overcame the early loss of Lucas 7

Raheem Sterling: Showed real promise down the left flank, causing Zabaleta and co plenty of problems with his pace and delivery 7

Fabio Borini: Looked extremely sharp and clever from start to finish; should perhaps have scored with his early chance 8

Luis Suarez: Improved after a frustrating opening period and showed his importance by scoring a superb curled free-kick 7

Best off the bench - Jonjo Shelvey: Kept it tight in midfield and looked eager to get on the scoresheet 6

MANCHESTER CITY

Joe Hart: Could do little to keep out either of the two goals but otherwise looked typically solid behind a battling defence 6

Pablo Zabaleta: Fought hard to deal with the threat of Suarez, but was often outdone by the brightness of Borini and Sterling 6

Kolo Toure: One of City's positives, putting in several good challenges and showing strength going forward and in defence 7

Vincent Kompany: One of the Belgian's more average performances, but covered his defence well in difficult circumstances 6

James Milner: Outfought and out-thought by an agile Liverpool midfield – struggled to make any progress in the middle third 5

Aleksandar Kolarov: Rarely got into the game in any sense. Outnumbered in midfield and hassled in defence 5

Samir Nasri: Bright in very small doses, but another culprit in City's quiet midfield, providing little service to the front two 6

Nigel De Jong: Rarely misplaced a pass but ultimately went missing too often during many of Liverpool's attacking waves 6

Yaya Toure: Made an impact in the first half with both long and short passes, and in the right place to take his goal 7

Carlos Tevez: Had plenty of bright sparks and finished his goal in typical fashion, but otherwise often lacked a killer instinct 7

Mario Balotelli: Characteristically in and out of the game, showing glimmers of fight but lacked service from a beaten midfield 6

Best off the bench - Edin Dzeko: Looked decent during his half-hour stint and had a chance to win it in latter stages 6