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Crouch: Sterling was Man City’s best player v Liverpool

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Image for Crouch: Sterling was Man City’s best player v Liverpool

OPINION

Peter Crouch has made the baffling claim that Raheem Sterling was Manchester City’s “best player” in their 3-1 defeat against Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday.

Sterling, 24, had very little impact on proceedings as large sections of the home crowd booed the ex-Liverpool forward throughout the 90 minutes and chants were made in reference to his big-money switch to Man City in 2015.

Sterling and Trent Alexander-Arnold went toe-to-toe for much of the game and while Sterling impressed Crouch, the ex-Reds striker has suggested that Alexander-Arnold came out on top in the battle between the two England internationals.

“This battle was brilliant all day between him and Sterling,” said Crouch on Match of the Day 2 on Sunday night. “I loved watching it.

“I thought Sterling was City’s best player. He was a threat all afternoon but Trent dealt with him very, very well.”

As good as it was to watch Sterling and Alexander-Arnold face off, there is no way that Sterling was City’s best player – he was terrible.

Whether it was that he could not cope with the hostilities shown towards him by the Anfield faithful or that Alexander-Arnold did an impeccable job of keeping him in his back pocket, either way, Sterling was hardly influential in the match.

According to stats by WhoScored, Sterling had four shots at goal in the match but none of them were on target.

He was also dribbled past twice, dispossessed once and failed to complete a single key pass that led to Man City having a chance.

Sterling did complete eight dribbles, which was more than any other player on the pitch, but what did he do with his possession on the ball? He did not create a single good chance for Man City while Bernardo Silva on the opposite flank managed to score while his only shot on target and provide two key passes.

Bernardo was City’s best player, if you had to choose one, but no one in Pep Guardiola’s side really stood out.

And there is no way that we can agree with Crouch that Sterling was the away side’s stand-out player.

He was awful.

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