Gary Neville felt Liverpool had to be commended for their defensive display at Manchester City on Sunday.
The former Manchester United captain believes Jurgen Klopp's Reds did well to quieten the threat of Pep Guardiola's City in the eventual 1-1 draw from a pulsating affair at the Etihad Stadium.
"I think there was a respect paid from both teams," he said on the Gary Neville Podcast.
"I expected it to be carnage - I thought, it wouldn't surprise me if it was 3-2, 4-3 - I thought it would be goal after goal and that neither team would want to shut up shop. I thought City were really respectful and played well in the first 20 minutes.
"It took Liverpool a bit to get going and get confidence but they did. It was a strange game. I couldn't tell you who I thought should have won it; maybe 1-1 is right overall in the sense of penalty decisions, missed chances.
"Both teams have deficiencies; City are certainly in transition a little bit; Pep Guardiola is moving the team away from one that has been fantastic and won two Premier League titles in the last four or five years. They will get better. They're getting younger and it will be exciting to see what they do with more transfer windows.
"I think Liverpool defended pretty well against some pretty good play. Sane's a very good player, Sterling will cause you problems, De Bruyne and Silva are probably two of the best players you'll see in the league but I thought Liverpool, who are suspect defensively, did a pretty good job and managed the threat well.
"It was an intriguing game, could have gone either way, but I'm not sure either team can really say they deserved to win it."
James Milner struck for the Reds from the penalty spot on 51 minutes before Sergio Aguero replied for City with a clinical finish in the 69th minute.
Source: tribalfootball.com