- Ederson sat on the bench at Anfield
- Stefan Ortega was trusted to start for Man City
- The Brazilian number one has not kept a clean sheet since October
Pep Guardiola revealed that he "just wanted to change something" when explaining Ederson's shock absence from Manchester City's starting XI against Liverpool on Sunday afternoon.
The deflated, defending champions had leaked 17 goals in their past six games - all of which they failed to win. While Ederson has had little protection at times, the Brazilian goalkeeper was caught out of position during City's calamitous 3-3 draw with Feyenoord in midweek, losing a 50-50 duel with Igor Paixao in the build-up to a late equaliser.
Stefan Ortega, City's able deputy, was promoted to the starting XI for his first Premier League appearance of the season in arguably the biggest match of his side's campaign thus far. It was only the eighth time Ederson has ever been named a substitute in England's top flight.
When quizzed on his surprise selection decision by Sky Sports, Guardiola coyly replied: "We just wanted to change something. Eddy [Ederson] has saved a lot of goals for us. He's saved one-against-ones many, many times, but I decided to pick Stefan [Ortega] today. Both are incredibly top goalkeepers, they’re both incredible with their feet and in one-v-ones. Since he arrived, we've had incredible two goalkeepers.
"Basically, the players [who start] are more fit. That is the reason why. In the starting XI, I could have changed a few other players. I know what Ruben [Dias] can give us in terms of leadership, but the other selections are about having more rhythm and more in the legs."
