Player ratings for Saturday's clash between Liverpool and Manchester City at Anfield.

By Abhishek Mehrotra

Liverpool

Pepe Reina - 6

Was in good form but let down by his defenders, particularly when the first goal was scored.

Daniel Agger (off 11') - n.a

Had to be taken off the field with a bruised eye.

Martin Skrtel - 5

Scored Liverpool's first, but went AWOL to gift Adebayor a free header.

Emiliano Insua - 4

Could have done better with both goals. Does not look like the finished product yet.

Jamie Carragher - 6

Stood up well against the pace of Craig Bellamy. News of his demise may be greatly exaggerated.

Lucas - 6

His distribution seems to be improving, particularly down the wings. Needs to work on balls down the middle.

Javier Mascherano - 6.5

A typically dogged display from the midfielder.

Steven Gerrard - 7

The most dynamic of the Liverpool players, as usual. Will be disappointed not to have taken advantage of a couple of chances that fell his way. They were tough, no doubt - but Stevie in peak form would have put them in.

Ryan Babel (off 19') - n.a

Hobbled off with an injury.

Dirk Kuyt - 5

Good link-up play on ocassion with Mascherano, but looked off colour for most of the day.

David Ngog - 4

A Fernando Torres he is not. Looked rather isolated up front. Was not confident enough to pull the trigger on the few occasions he had a shot.

Substitues

Sotirios Kyrgiakos - 6

Did a good cover-up job for Agger. Had a golden chance to grab a goal but was inexplicably beaten in the air by, wait for it, Shaun Wright Phillips!

Yossi Benayoun - 6

Did score the second goal but was not up to his usual trickery. Gave away the ball far too frequently.

Fabio Aurelio - n.a

Came on too late to make an impact.

Manchester City

Shay Given - 7.5

Put World Cup woes behind him for another superb performance. A reflex save from a Skrtel header was the standout moment.

Joleon Lescott - 4.5

His form has drained away recently. Another sub-par performance from him, highlighted by the failure to clear the ball leading to Reds' second goal.

Kolo Toure - 5

Decent performance from the former Gunner but had to be substituted at the end of the first half.

Wayne Bridge - 5

Did not have much to do through the game.

Pablo Zabaleta - 4.5

His failure to react fast enough resulted in Liverpool's second goal. Looked shaky throughout the game.

Gareth Barry - 6

Had some good moments, slipping in Shaun Wright-Phillips and Stephen Ireland a couple of times. Disappointing delivery from deadball situations.

Nigel De Jong - 7

Solid performance by the Dutch midfielder. Prevented Gerrard from inflicting too much pain on his team.

Stephen Ireland - 7.5

Looked very very lively, as shown by the second goal.

Craig Bellamy - 5

Not the best game for the Welshman. Would have wanted to take advantage of Carra's aging legs, but could not.

Shaun Wright-Phillips - 8

City's player of the night. Fast and clever through the 90 minutes, it was his fizzing delivery that led to City's second goal.

Emmanuel Adebayor - 7

Made a difficult header looked ridiculously easy. Was a constant threat in the air and but in a good shift at the back as well.

Substitutes

Nedum Onuoha - 4.5

Not a great outing for him. City looked undoubtedly jittery when Toure is not playing.

Carlos Tevez - 5

Could not make the impact Hughes would have liked.