Jurgen Klopp felt the positioning of Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan caused Liverpool problems in the Carabao Cup defeat to on Thursday.
City made an electric start at the Etihad and could have led inside 20 seconds, with Erling Haaland sending a chip over the bar. The Norwegian made no mistake on 10 minutes, converting a cross from De Bruyne.
Liverpool twice equalised against the Blues but goals from Riyad Mahrez and Nathan Ake eventually secured a quarter-final trip to Southampton for Pep Guardiola's side.