The Sky Blues lost 2-1 on Sunday at the hands of Arsenal in an action-packed game that saw goalkeeper Khiara Keating give away a penalty, save a penalty and then misread a bounce that left an open net leading to the Gunners second goal.
City boss Gareth Taylor has now urged Keating to learn from the error and bounce back quickly as he threw his support behind the &aposkeeper. He said: “I was super impressed with the players and the performance that we gave [on Sunday]. We were really unlucky to come away with nothing.
“Youre not going to get it all your own way this season, it&aposs about how you react and I always say about this group, we regroup really well and really quickly. On Wednesday night it&aposs a different game.
“Shes okay [Keating] obviously she was upset yesterday because she&aposs young, I&aposm not just saying that because she&aposs young – she&aposs mature and a good character, she&aposs in good spirits – typical Khiara, and that&aposs the good thing about her, her character is so big.
“There were good levels of support for her yesterday and if were playing that game again today, then, Khiaras playing. There&aposs no doubt about it. She&aposs done incredible things for us and I think she did some really good things in the game as well.
“It&aposs part and parcel of the game – it happens to all goalkeepers, so we back her 100 per cent.”
However, there were errors all over the field that Taylor will need to rectify should his side want to progress in what is the only group in this competition full of top-tier teams. Theyve already got the better of Everton last time out in a 2-1 victory away from home and now face Liverpool on Wednesday night.
Theyre currently at the bottom of the Group B rankings after a 2-1 loss to Leicester City in the inaugural cup tie. Yet, the Reds got redemption having beaten the Foxes 2-1 at home on Sunday, proving to be a side not to be taken lightly.
Taylor continued: “Liverpool are very aggressive in terms of how they set out and try to win the ball back and weve suffered against that previously. They always make it tough and we need to be ready for that.
“These types of games can be similar to say Leicester who have come out this season very aggressive and you get minimal time on the ball.
“Patience is okay but I think you need to hurt teams when they want to play this aggressive and this high up the pitch so we need to be mindful of where the space is going to be. Of course, we have players capable of punishing that type of play.”
City usually dominate in this competition, having lifted the League Cup trophy on four previous occasions. The most recent was in March 2022 in a 3-1 win over Chelsea. However last season, Taylors side missed out on being finalists when they lost 1-0 to Arsenal in the semis, back in February.
To even have a chance of laying claim to the accolade for a fifth time, City need to pull all three points from their clash with Liverpool, which takes place on Wednesday, November 8, kicking off at 7pm at Prenton Park.
The transfer window has been a hectic one and City have been busy, with high-profile signings and sales aplenty.
City snapped up Croatian pair Mateo Kovacic and Josko Gvardiol from Chelsea and RB Leipzig respectively with the latest addition being Jeremy Doku. Wolves&apos Matheus Nunes then joined the Blues on deadline day. In terms of outgoings, Treble winner Ilkay Gundogan departed for Barcelona, Aymeric Laporte and Riyad Mahrez moved to Saudi Arabia, and Cole Palmer completed a shock move to Chelsea.
Our team of City experts will be on top of all the goings-on at the Etihad across deadline day and beyond, and you can get the latest updates and inside information to your phone by joining our new free WhatsApp community below.
