Virgil van Dijk’s Ryan Gravenberch was sent off in the second half of Liverpool’s 3-0 loss to Manchester City.
Gravenberch was booked in the 62nd minute for a clumsy challenge on the back of Jeremy Dock, only to be sent off for a second down.
City, playing for the first time since being found guilty of breaching Premier League financial regulations, scored twice in the next six minutes through Erling Haaland and Doku.
A stunning Ryan Cherky goal then completed a flowing team move to seal victory and hand Liverpool their first loss under Andoni Iraola.
It was the Reds’ joint heaviest defeat at Anfield in the Premier League since 3-0 defeats to Chelsea (October 2005) and City (February 2021) and West Ham (August 2015) and Nottingham Forest (November 2025).
Liverpool have also gone five consecutive home games (D4 M1) without a win for the fourth time and first (eight) since March 2021.
And Van Dijk said the momentum of the game changed when Liverpool went down to 10 men as they had been strong up until then.
“The first half was good from us,” Van Dijk told Sky Sports. “We showed our intensity; we could have done better in the situations where we went to the break.
“They weren’t great chances, but we showed we wanted to win and we had intensity, that’s the minimum.
“The red card changed the game in the second half, especially when they conceded a quick goal after that. We end up with 10 men and we concede quick goals and it becomes a tough game against them again.
“I think the atmosphere here is always good; I’ve been lucky enough to play in a lot of big games here. Maybe it was different for other players, but for me I was ready to compete and I think we showed that, especially in the first half.”
Disappointing result but thanks for your support at Anfield today
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) October 11, 2026
Iraola suffered his first Premier League defeat in 24 games (10 D13) while managing Bournemouth in January, losing 3-2 to Arsenal.
They lost to City five times in the competition, with their most defeats against one club (also five times against Liverpool).
The Reds are also eight Premier League games without a win (6 W2) when facing a team that started top of the league, their second-worst run of nine matches (2002-2008).
“I think it’s obvious. We’ve played two games,” Iraola told Sky Sports.
“One game until the 60th minute, another game after the red card. In the first game we were the best team, then they were better.
“First [Gravenberch booking] not yellow. [Elliot] Anderson takes a few steps forward; he wasn’t even going to give a foul. I don’t know why he gave the yellow card. We have nine players behind the ball.
“It’s already difficult to put pressure on them when it’s 11v11, but it’s a different game when it’s a little bit and then we concede a goal right away before we make a substitution. When you’re 1-0 down, you have to play differently.”
Liverpool were without three key players in Alexander Isak, Cody Gakpo and Dominik Szoboszlai ahead of tight matches in all competitions.
However, Iraola played down concerns that they would be sidelined for a long time.
“They are not very big injuries, but we will go to Austria in two days [to face LASK in the Champions League]”, – added Iraola.
“It’s going to be tough; they’re ready for the next one.”