Liverpool demolish Manchester City to put one hand on the EPL title

Struggling with both form and injuries, the hosts started with Lewis, Khusanov, Ake and Gvardiol at the back with Ederson as the custodian. Playmaker Kevin De Bruyne was deployed in a more central role with newcomer Nico at the heart of midfield while Doku and Savinho were in the flanks as usual with Foden and Marmoush filling the forward line in the absence of talismanic goal poacher Erling Haaland.

At the other end, with no major injury concerns, Liverpool fielded their strongest possible 4-2-3-1 line up with Alisson in the goal while the back four consisted Alexander Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk and Robertson. Gravenberch and Mac Allister were paired as the central midfielders to provide support to the attackers Salah, Szoboszlai and Jones with Luis Diaz as the centre forward.

Arsenal’s defeat to West Ham on Saturday was a cause of celebration on Merseyside, but Arne Slot knew that to take full advantage his side needed to win at a stadium where they have done so just once in the last 15 attempts. But this isn’t quite the same City as has graced the Premier League in recent years, and the away end was sent into pandemonium inside 15 minutes when Dominik Szoboszlai flicked Alexis Mac Allister’s near-post corner towards the penalty spot, where Mohamed Salah was waiting to sweep into the net via a deflection off Nathan Aké.

Also read: Arsenal drub holders Manchester City 5-1 to keep slim title hopes alive

The hosts rallied in response, and were unfortunate to see Omar Marmoush’s finish ruled out for an offside in the 31^st minute when he was played through by Phil Foden. But Liverpool were set up to defend and counter, executing that tactic perfectly to double their advantage. The scorer of the first goal turned the provider in the 37^th minute when Trent Alexander-Arnold lifted a ball over the top to Salah, who made his way down the right-hand side and into the box before laying it off for Szoboszlai to stroke home a low finish and the Hungarian did it with some finesse.

Two of the last three times City have been 2-0 down at the break in the league they have gone on to win 4-2, but there were very few signs of that kind of resurgence here. In fact, Liverpool saw Curtis Jones’ tap in disallowed for an offside in the build-up in the 56^th minute, before Ederson went at full stretch to palm away Luis Díaz’s curling effort a few minutes later. City, meanwhile, looked well and truly out of luck at the other end, with every pass and touch seemingly getting away from them as the rain started to come down.

Despite a bunch of substitutions to desperately change the score line, Pep Guardiola’s men failed to make any worthwhile impact while Liverpool had no real difficulty in protecting the three points.