The Reds have a poor record at the Manchester City ground having failed to win there in the Premier League since 2015.
However, with City having a bad season – and missing top scorer Erling Haaland – there was a real chance for Liverpool to put that right on Sunday.
From the moment Mohamed Salah fired in his 30th goal of the season in the 14th minute, a win never really looked in doubt.
Liverpool moved 11 points clear at the top of the Premier League table and are now surely on course for a 20th league title.
It was a big day for Arne Slot, who made some interesting decisions with his Liverpool team. After leaving out both Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez and playing without a recognised centre-forward, Slot has spoken out to explain his thinking.
Arne Slot explains Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez snub
It was not altogether a surprise to see Slot drop both Jota and Nunez at the Etihad. The Liverpool head coach saw both players squander big chances to get the win at Aston Villa in midweek.
Slot called Nunez out for a lack of effort after that game, while Jota is still being managed a little after a fairly lengthy injury.
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And speaking to LFCTV, the Dutch coach admitted that the fitness of Jota had played a part in his thinking, as well as the need to tailor his tactics towards playing against City.
“First of all Diogo Jota told me yesterday that he wasn’t fully recovered yet, so he couldn’t start,” said Slot. “Cody Gakpo only trained for the first time yesterday, so that means two attacking options less.”
Team MP W D L GD Pts
1 27 19 7 1 38 64
2 26 15 8 3 28 53
3 26 14 5 7 11 47
4 26 13 5 8 15 44
“And I felt if you play away at City you have to defend a lot. Darwin has had an impact whenever we needed him, but his main strength is not defending in and around his own box.
“So, some extra legs with a midfielder was then the decision we made.”
Slot explains forward choices further
When the team news came out, many had probably expected that it would be Jones on the left of the attack, as it had been at Villa.
Sunday 23rd February
Premier League
Man City
0|2
Liverpool
But, when the game started, it was clear that it was Luis Diaz playing wide, with Jones in the middle more or less alongside Dominik Szoboszlai.
Gary Neville praised Liverpool’s set-up and by and large it worked.
“We wanted to play with two wingers because if you always defend you have no choice,” Slot explained.
“So to have two wingers who we are fast who we can play the ball in behind to always gives us an opportunity to create and then we have extra players to win the second ball. I think it worked out quite well.”
It certainly did.
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