Liverpool 0-3 Manchester City: Anderson, Barcola and the Summer Signings Compared

Manchester City won 3-0 at Anfield on Sunday 11 October 2026, but all three goals came after Ryan Gravenberch was sent off on 62 minutes. The scoreline tells you more about 28 minutes against ten men than about the two squads. The summer signings are a fairer test. City spent a reported £301m on Elliot Anderson, Enzo Fernández and Iliman Ndiaye. Liverpool brought in Bradley Barcola, Jérémy Jacquet, Víctor Muñoz and Ronald Araújo. We have already written about three of those deals, so here is how all seven grade six matchdays into the Premier League season, and what has changed since our earlier pieces.

The Match: What Happened Before the Goals

It was 0-0 when Gravenberch, booked on 47 minutes, was sent off on 62. Erling Haaland scored three minutes later. Jérémy Doku, who had replaced Ndiaye on 56 minutes, made it 2-0 on 68 from an Elliot Anderson assist. Rayan Cherki added the third on 78, set up by Joško Gvardiol. So read the result with care. For an hour the two sides were level at eleven against eleven, and nothing below should be read as "Liverpool's signings lost 3-0".

On the day, Anderson played 90 minutes and had the best match rating of the seven signings (7.7). Enzo played 80 minutes (7.05) and Ndiaye 56. For Liverpool, Barcola (6.28) and Jacquet (6.51) both went off on 88 minutes, Víctor Muñoz played 90 (6.23), and Araújo, booked for dissent on 8 minutes, was replaced on 75 (5.82). The match ratings are a single afternoon. The Scout52 Score below covers every league game so far.

The Seven Signings, Side by Side

This is the core of the piece: every summer signing who has played for either club, with the reported fee, minutes so far, the Scout52 Score for 2026/27, last season's Score under the same engine, and all six composites.

The split is plain. All three City signings grade above 7. Only one of Liverpool's four does, and that is Jacquet, not the £123m forward. Barcola has the lowest Score in the group and the lowest mark in four of the six composites: Goal Threat, Ball Carry, Duels and Passing (the last shared with Ndiaye). He is also the only one of the seven to have fallen a long way from last season: 8.2 at PSG, 3.4 so far at Liverpool, on the smallest sample in the table.

Manchester City: Three Signings, All Above 7

Elliot Anderson: 8.7, and the assist

Anderson has started all six of City's league games, and City have won all six. His Score of 8.7 sits right next to last season's 8.8 at Forest, which tells you the profile has travelled. Passing is 9.8 (Elite, top 10% of 21 to 23-year-old midfielders) on 90% accuracy. Duels is 9.5 (Elite, also top 10%), with 8.0 duels won per 90 at a 62% success rate. He makes 4.1 tackles and interceptions per 90, and his Ball Carry of 9.2 is the best in the table. Goal Threat (1.6) is low, but that was never the job: one shot per 90 from a player whose role is to control games. The assist for Doku was his first goal involvement of the league season.

Enzo Fernández: 7.7, scoring and passing

Enzo's 7.7 is a touch up on last season's 7.5 at Chelsea. The goals side of his game has come with him: Goal Threat 8.9 (Good, top 25% of 24 to 29-year-old midfielders) and a league goal against Sunderland on 20 September. Passing is 9.5 (Elite, top 10%) and Duels 8.2 (Good). The weak spot we flagged is still there. His Defensive score of 1.5 (Below Avg) is the lowest in the table, so he is not the player who protects City's back line. That is Anderson's job.

Iliman Ndiaye: 7.1, up from 5.7

The deadline-day signing (a reported £60m up front, up to £5m in add-ons, after City first went for Cody Gakpo) shares the biggest rise of the seven with Jacquet: 7.1 against 5.7 at Everton last season. His Ball Carry is 9.0 (Elite, top 10% of his age band) and Chance Creation 7.5 (Good, top 25%), with 1.42 key passes per 90. Read it carefully, though. Only 263 of his 443 minutes are for City, he has no goal or assist for them yet, and he was replaced by Doku before Doku scored at Anfield.

Liverpool: One Standout, One Problem

Jérémy Jacquet: 8.7, Liverpool's best-graded signing so far

Liverpool agreed the deal with Rennes in February 2026 and Jacquet joined on 1 July for a reported £55m, plus up to £5m in add-ons. It was a Rennes record sale, and Chelsea had also bid. At 21 he has started all six league games and matches Anderson's 8.7, well up from 7.3 at Rennes. The jump is defensive: 5.1 at Rennes last season, 9.5 now (Elite, top 10% of his age band). He wins 76% of his duels, makes 4.46 tackles and interceptions per 90 and passes at 90% (Passing 9.3, Elite). Liverpool conceded four in his first two games, then kept three clean sheets in a row with him playing every minute, before the three conceded against City after the red card.

Bradley Barcola: 3.4 from 8.2, on 258 minutes

This is the honest headline. Liverpool's most expensive signing, at a reported £123m including add-ons, has the lowest Score of the seven. The things we said he would bring have not shown up yet. Goal Threat is 0.4 (Poor for an attacker), against 9.3 at PSG last season. He scored 0.57 goals per 90 in Ligue 1 and has none so far for Liverpool. His shots are down from 2.57 per 90 to 1.05, three league shots in all, with one on target. Passing has fallen from 9.4 to 5.9, Ball Carry is 3.4 and Duels 0.7. Duels was never his strength, though: 1.2 at PSG.

Where he does add something is without the ball. His Defensive score of 7.9 (Good for an attacker, top 25% of 24 to 29-year-olds) is close to last season's 8.2. Last season's archetype was Pressing Forward, and the pressing has made the move. He also makes 1.4 key passes per 90. The sample needs repeating every time: he arrived at the end of August, and he has four league appearances, three starts and 258 minutes. That is less than half the 600 the model needs for an archetype. This is a slow start, measured, not a final judgement.

Víctor Muñoz and Ronald Araújo

Víctor Muñoz (a reported €40m, about £34.5m, his release clause at Osasuna) grades 6.3, up from 5.8 in La Liga. He is an attacker with an Elite Defensive score of 9.6 (top 10% of 21 to 23-year-olds), the highest in the table, and a goal against Forest on 29 August. The other end is the gap: Chance Creation is 0.4 (Poor), with 0.52 key passes per 90. Ronald Araújo, on a season-long loan with Liverpool paying his wages and a non-obligatory option to buy reported at €55m, grades 6.7 against 6.8 at Barcelona. That is steady rather than a step up. His Duels score of 9.5 is Elite (top 10% of his age band, 64% won), but his Defensive score of 4.4 is only Average. Anfield was his worst game of the season by match rating.

What We Said, and What Has Changed

We covered three of these deals over the summer and checked all of them again in our 30 September round-up. One thing to know first: the July and early-September pieces ran on the previous version of our model. The New Scout52 Archetype Engine replaced Work Rate with Duels and re-graded every 2025/26 season, so the "last season" Scores here are not the same as those in our older articles. Under the current engine, Anderson's 2025/26 is 8.8 (we had 7.73), Enzo's is 7.5 (we had 6.6) and Barcola's is 8.2 (we had 7.5).

Anderson. In Who Is the Closest Player to Elliot Anderson? Scout52's Data Says Anton Stach we described a midfielder whose value was elite passing, elite work rate and the defensive work that wins midfield battles. Under the new engine, work rate is now Duels, and every part of that read has carried over to City: Passing 9.8, Duels 9.5, Defensive 7.7. The only change since Summer Signings, Early Verdict is small: 8.6 then, 8.7 now, plus the first assist.

Enzo. Enzo Fernández to Manchester City: Two Seasons of Data, and How £125m Fits concluded that City were getting an elite passer with a new goalscoring edge, but "not a Rodri, and not a carrier". The first two parts hold (Passing 9.5, Goal Threat 8.9), and so does "not a Rodri" (Defensive 1.5). The carrying worry has eased for now. His dribble success is 50% against 27% at Chelsea last season, and Ball Carry is 6.4, but that is roughly two successful dribbles, far too few to call it a recovery. His Score has risen from 6.9 on 30 September to 7.7, helped by 80 minutes at Anfield and by the current figure also counting his Chelsea cameo.

Barcola. This is the biggest change. Barcola to Liverpool: The £123m Goal Threat, Measured Against Isak and Ekitike found he led Liverpool's forwards on goal threat and passing, and argued the fee bought "ceiling, passing and a two-way game". On 30 September he was "Too early" on 170 minutes, and we noted the goal threat had not appeared. Four games and 258 minutes in, the Score is 3.4. The two-way part of the case is there (Defensive 7.9). The goal threat and passing are not, yet.

The Spend

Comparing the fees is fair here, because both clubs spent big. City's three cost a reported £301m (£116m, £125m and £60m), plus up to £5m in add-ons for Ndiaye. Liverpool's three permanent signings cost a reported total of about £212.5m (£123m for Barcola, £55m for Jacquet and about £34.5m for Muñoz), plus up to £5m in add-ons for Jacquet, plus Araújo's wages on loan. City spent roughly £88m more on fees, and so far every one of their signings grades above 7. Liverpool's best value is their best player: Jacquet cost less than half of Barcola's fee and grades 5.3 points higher.

The Bottom Line

Liverpool 0-3 Manchester City should be read through the 62nd-minute red card, not as a measure of the two squads. The signings are a better measure. City's three grade 8.7, 7.7 and 7.1. Liverpool's four range from Jacquet's 8.7 down to Barcola's 3.4. Since our last look, Anderson has held his level, Enzo has risen and Barcola has gone from "Too early" to the clearest problem on either side, on a sample small enough that it can still change. We will run the numbers again once all seven pass 600 league minutes.