Livepool 3 Manchester City 1/media coverage

Since the coverage of this game will be at saturation point in the press I am confining my post to the media.

I joined the game late as I had a lunch in the country. Martin Tyler on SKY is reliable pair of hands but has never come up with a phrase to rival Ken Wolstenholme’s “They think its all over … it is now!” or Barry Davies on the Gascoigne FA Cup semi final free kick v Arsenal: “Is he going to have a go? He is, you know …”.

It’s the chattiness to the viewer that made both comments so memorable.

At half-time, rather than listen to interminable betting ads, I tend to do my chores in double time listening to Radio 5.

Here Chris Sutton and Robbie Savage were dominating the airwaves, not to analyse the game but stoke up controversy for the 6-0-6 talk in.

Their issue was the handball by Trent Alexander-Arnold.

When I saw the incident much later on highlights it looked like hand to ball (the way the full back put his arm behind his back afterwards was significant) but equally I can see why it was not given.

Immediately after Liverpool scored their second.

There was much to analyse on the first half: the keeping of Bravo for City, whether the Salah goal was offside and especially why City, though playing well, could not assert their passing possession game but of these issues you heard nothing.

For me it summed up the lack of quality of BBC football coverage.