When the Premier League fixtures came out in the summer both Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp would probably have circled this as a title decider.
And it might well turn out to be just that. For Manchester City, anyway. The reigning champions served notice to Arsenal that they are not going gently into the same dark night that appears to have swallowed Liverpool whole.
After Mo Salah had scored his customary goal against them, City were inspired to take the Merseysiders apart. Even without Erling Haaland. Julian Alvarez equalised before Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan and Jack Grealish also found the back of Alisson Becker’s net in the second half.
City now trail the Gunners by five points and could do with Liverpool doing them a favour when Mikel Arteta’s side travel to Anfield next weekend.
The Reds have their own reasons of course - after this ninth defeat of the season did serious damage to their hopes of a top-four consolation. At least Liverpool still has Eurovision.
Klopp needs a serious rebuild in the summer lest this latest one-season blip turns into a nasty habit. This hasn’t been a vintage year by City’s standards, but still they are chasing the Treble. That’s what you do when you’re the real deal.
For all the hype about this being an era dominated by these two north-west clubs, the reality is somewhat different. In the six seasons that Guardiola and Klopp have gone head-to-head, Liverpool have finished above City just once - when they lifted the title for the first time in 30 years in 2020.
True, the Merseyside have posted eye-watering points totals to finish second twice - but Manchester United have ended runners-up as many times as Liverpool in the same period. And this is supposed to be the decade from hell at Old Trafford.
Klopp’s only Premier League win at the Etihad was more than seven years ago, when Manuel Pellegrini was City’s boss. And while Guardiola has also found the going tough at Anfield, Liverpool’s stadium has been a graveyard for City for 70 years and more.
Klopp, of course, has lifted the Champions League, the one trophy that has eluded Guardiola during his time at City. Maybe that’s why the Catalan decided against risking 42-goal Haaland with a quarter-final date with Bayern Munich looming.
Liverpool would be justified in claiming that City midfielder Rodri should have been sent off for two cynical fouls with the game level in the first half. But referee Simon Hooper had been just as lenient with Fabinho when the Brazilian was kicking lumps out of Grealish in the opening minutes.
When Salah scored his 11th goal in 19 appearances against City after Diogo Jota had sprung the offside trap it put a temporary strut in the visitors’ step.
When Salah ambushed them again only to see his pass to Jota cut out by Grealish when a second goal seemed inevitable, Guardiola threw his hands up in exasperation.
But moments later, it was Klopp’s turn to vent, lambasting Andy Robertson for being lured out of position as De Bruyne, Riyad Mahrez and Gundogan combined for Grealish to put one on a plate for Alvarez.
City stripped the meat from Liverpool’s bones against just 53 second into the second half, when Mahrez escaped in behind Robertson and found De Bruyne with a low cross that was gobbled up by the Belgian. Gundogan scored from close-range seven minutes later after Liverpool had got fed up with chasing Sky Blue shadows.
When Grealish capped an outstanding performance by completing the rout from De Bruyne’s pass, many of Liverpool’s travelling fans decided their team could spend the last 15 minutes walking alone.
While they were heading towards the East Lancs Road, the home support dusted down their Poznan celebration and made a suggestion to Klopp that he might be getting sacked. City were a class apart on the day. But they have been for most of the last six seasons.
