MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 9: Jeremy Doku of Manchester City battles with Ryan Gravenberch of Liverpool during the Premier League match between Manchester City and Liverpool at Etihad Stadium on November 9, 2025 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)
Offside via Getty Images
Almost exactly two seasons ago, Manchester City winger Jeremy Doku had the Etihad Stadium on its feet every time he touched the ball.
Liverpool fullback Trent Alexander-Arnold was passed at will by the Belgian, who completed 11 dribbles during the game.
As the British newspaper the Daily Mirror put it, “Alexander-Arnold was given such a torrid time by Manchester City winger Jeremy Doku that he must have felt he was locked inside a washing machine on its spin cycle.”
Ultimately, however, it was the Englishman who had the last laugh. Despite dominating the game, City only managed to score once and allowed Alexander-Arnold to net the equaliser.
As he jogged away in celebration, the fullback put his finger to his lips and smiled broadly.
For all Doku’s sparkle, it was his opposite number that had been the decisive one.
In the same fixture last season, the gap between excitement and effectiveness was even more pronounced.
Alexander-Arnold was bypassed at will, but City barely got close to troubling the Reds in a grim 0-2 defeat.
“I passed him a lot of times but it was then the final pass or I don’t know,” reflected Doku after the game.
“The most important thing after passing is to create something from it, and I played some good balls in front of the goal, but we have to score.
“We have to analyse the game and see what I can do better and what we can do better as a team.”
“We tried. I had a lot of attacking situations, but after the two goals that they scored, they played very deep,” he reflected in an interview after the game.
“They defended very well and then played on the counterattack, so it was hard for us to find spaces. Some games are like that. We just have to keep on going and take the good things from the game.”
It helped Alexander-Arnold in the second duel with Doku that the Reds were playing a counterattacking game. On many of the occasions he swept past the fullback, he’d find Mohamed Salah waiting to dispossess him.
By the end of the season, it was beginning to look like the Belgian forward was in danger of becoming one of those wingers who can get the crowd off their feet but lacks the end product to have them leaping around in celebration.
His career best goal tally is eight, which is not good enough for a player with the capacity to mix it among the elite.
It should be noted that last season, he played for a team that underwent the most dramatic decline.
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 9:Jeremy Doku of Manchester City is under pressure from Dominik Szoboszlai and Conor Bradley of Liverpool during the Premier League match between Manchester City and Liverpool at Etihad Stadium on November 9, 2025 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Shaun Brooks – CameraSport via Getty Images)
CameraSport via Getty Images
Manchester City suddenly and dramatically didn’t look anywhere near as formidable as they once were.
However, as the 2025/26 season began, Doku looked rejuvenated.
Being encouraged to attack more down the centre of the field, he has started scoring at a better rate and creating opportunities for others.
His task when facing defending champions Liverpool this time around was arguably more complex.
Alexander-Arnold has departed for Real Madrid and his replacement, Connor Bradley, is much better defensively.
As manager Pep Guardiola pointed out, the Northern Irishman warmed up for the clash against City by shutting down one of the most hyped wingers in world soccer, Vinicius Junior, on Tuesday.
But he was destroyed by the Belgian who ghosted past him repeatedly.
And in the postgame, Guardiola was purring.
“[Doku] had an outstanding game against one of the best fullbacks in the Premier League,” the Catalan added.
Even his teammates were willing to admit it was a mismatch publicly.
“Doku had a good game and it was difficult for Conor [Bradley] in the one on one at times. I don’t think we were much in trouble, but we could have done better,” said Virgil Van Dijk.
Van Dijk was incorrect about the trouble; however, in the second half, Doku eases past both Bradley and Konate before whipping the ball into the top corner.
As the BBC’s Danny Murphy said afterwards: “Doku was a pleasure to watch, irrespective of who you support and who you wanted to win. You had to admire his skill, pace, strength and bravery – and his goal was just amazing.
“He was electric and the game’s star man. This was the best I’ve seen him play in a City shirt.”
The question is now whether Doku can maintain this hot streak throughout the season. If he can do so, those games of exciting ineffectiveness against Alexander-Arnold will seem a thing of the past.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/zakgarnerpurkis/2025/11/10/jeremy-doku-must-now-prove-he-is-truly-elite/
