Manuel Akanji, a Manchester City defender, says he felt at ease in midfield against Liverpool.

During the 1-1 tie, Akanji moved into midfield when City had the ball.

He told City’s official website: “I’m watching what the other guys are doing in midfield because I’m playing a lot of passes to them – it’s getting easier for me to relate now what position they are in.”

“The manager believes in me to play in this position, and I do my best.” I felt at ease today, and we’ll see where I end up in the future.

“I try to keep it simple and not take too many touches.” I felt more confident and better as the game progressed.

“It’s different because when you play centre-back or full-back you have the full game in front of you, whereas in this role you need to know what’s around you.”

Akanji stated about Saturday’s game, “We had a good performance – we controlled the game.”

“We defended extremely well and created opportunities up front.” There’s always space for improvement – we gave up a goal and didn’t keep a clean sheet; this is something we need to focus on.”