Man City could have Premier League title race trump card with Julian Alvarez change

For Manchester City, the most important goal against Liverpool on Saturday was arguably Julian Alvarez’s equaliser in the 27th minute. Despite the simplicity of the finish, the build-up to the Argentine’s tap-in was textbook City and gave the Blues something to build upon in the second half.

Alvarez’s movement and positioning for his goal was that of a natural striker, something which has also been seen in almost every game in the form of Erling Haaland. Of course, this goalscoring is why City brought both of them in last year.

However, Alvarez has demonstrated this season that his strengths lie in many different areas other than just scoring goals. Despite the apparent direct switch that Alvarez might be for Haaland, should ‘La Arana’ be seen more as an all-round forward than a traditional number 9?

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Against Liverpool, and on many occasions throughout the season, Alvarez’s passing ability and dogged work rate were key elements that led to City running riot in the second half.

Immediately after the restart, the Argentine sprayed a perfect pass across to Riyad Mahrez, who then assisted Kevin De Bruyne. Not only was the pass inch-perfect but the World Cup winner also quickly recognised De Bruyne’s offside position through the middle, leaving him with a more difficult pass to the Algerian winger.

Just seven minutes later, the 23-year-old took up intuitive positioning in the Liverpool box to receive the ball and have a shot at goal. Despite a block, Ilkay Gundogan followed up and made it 3-1.

What shone through particularly for Alvarez though was his work rate. As within the traditional City high press, the forward consistently chased down Liverpool